The Lady's Butler: I Reincarnated To Serve The Villainess-Chapter 6: Battling A Frost Wolf {1}: Death Again?

Chapter 6: Battling A Frost Wolf {1}: Death Again?

Sebastian had one hand on his cane and the other behind his back as he calmly looked at Adrian, standing inside the arena.

He might not show it, but he had high hopes for the kid.

After all, save for his unusually large mana reserves, the kid had achieved everything else through hard work.

He was also the most promising among the candidates, as he seemed extremely willing to serve, so much so, it felt like some sort of obsession.

Though Sebastian couldn’t place a finger on it, but for some reason, it seemed as if the kid’s entire vibe had changed from what he previously remembered.

"Maybe this is just an effect of his contract?" He muttered.

Speaking of contracts, Sebastian’s eyes moved to the cat laying comfortably on the fence.

It seems the kid had gotten himself quite the unique spirit, one that even his eyes couldn’t descern.

Usually, his eyes failing to identify a spirit would raise his suspicion, but Sebastian had seen that look in the kid’s eyes, it was the same look he had when he first met the Ardent family patriarch.

So he was sure that whatever this spirit was, it was going to be used in servitude of the Ardent family.

That is, if the kid survives this test, else every hope placed in him would be useless.

***

Adrian, unaware of Sebastian’s hope being placed in him, kept his focus on the gate before him, waiting for it to open.

Was he nervous?

He wasn’t quite sure, but was he prepared to face the beast, he wasn’t sure of that either.

As a former earthling whose only encountered with a wild beast was with an angry stray cat, the normal reaction should’ve been fear or at the very least, anxiousness.

Right?

Well he felt none of that, instead, he felt some sort of excitement, almost as if he couldn’t wait for the fight to begin.

Which was strange, even for someone like him.

He didn’t believe himself to be a violent person nor had he particularly enjoyed violent media.

Though the same could be said for most other media, but still.

This excitement didn’t belong to him, rather, it seemed that the previous Adrian was some sort of battle maniac and that imprint had been left behind on this body.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when the rattling of chains that held the gate was heard.

Adrian noticed that the gates had been opened, and all he could see from beyond it was darkness.

That is, until a pair of red glowing eyes lit up within said darkness.

THUD

A loud thumping sound was heard from within the darkness as the glowing eyes got bigger by the second.

Rather than getting bigger, it was more accurate to say that whatever the eyes belong to, was getting closer.

THUD

The first thing that reached the light was a massive paw, which was then followed by the creature’s snout and then its entire body.

Standing before Adrian was what seemed to be a massive white wolf.

Though its initial form was the only resemblance it had to Earth’s wolves.

Even on its four limbs, the thing seemed to be at least seven feet, which was a whole feet taller than Adrian.

Growing out of its elbows and hocks were transparent crystal like structures.

They resembled jagged shards of ice, yet they were far too clear and polished to simply be frozen water.

Each movement of the creature caused faint blue light to appear within the crystals, as though mana was flowing inside them.

Growing out of its mouth were fangs of the same crystal like structure, and as fragile as they looked, Adrian knew otherwise.

The wolf’s fur was thick and white, but unlike normal fur, there were faint streaks of pale blue ran through it like veins.

"A Crystal Frost Wolf," Adrian muttered as he readied himself.

According to the manhwa, these things only looked threatening but even a D rank spirit contractor, contracted to a common spirit, should be able to handle them1.

But for someone like him, who hadn’t the slightest idea how to use his abilities just yet, this was going to be a problem.

«You should be able to feel the contract within you,» the cat’s voice suddenly rang in his head, «guide your mana towards it, and the rest should come naturally.»

"Alright," Adrian nodded as he tried following the instructions, unfortunately, the Frost Wolf wasn’t going to just stand by and wait.

The creature suddenly leapt towards him with speeds that didn’t match its size and then swiped its massive paw downwards, hoping to squash the bug.

BOOM!

The paw landed where Adrian stood, kicking up a cloud of snow but he was no longer there.

The moment the paw descended, his body had already moved on instinct.

He rolled to the side, narrowly getting to safety as the massive strike cratered the ground where he had previously been standing.

Snow and rocky earth were sent flying in every direction due to the Wolf’s attack.

Adrian pushed himself up quickly, sliding back several steps while keeping his eyes locked on the wolf.

The Crystal Frost Wolf slowly lifted its paw from the ground, its red eyes narrowing slightly as it searched for him through the drifting snow.

It had expected a single strike to end things, instead, the prey had somehow slipped away.

A low growl of dissatisfaction came from its throat.

Adrian, on the other hand, steadied his breathing. The previous owner of this body had been trained in the art of fighting and this body seemed to have retained those instincts.

His heart was beating faster now, but not from panic, infact, he was currently fighting the urge to let out a grin.

Again, a bad habit of the previous Adrian.

Pulling his attention towards the battle again, he tried following the instructions of the cat.

Closing his eyes for even a second would be suicide, so he kept them open as he reached inward.

Again, the wolf wasn’t having it.

It lunged at him again, this time with its maws, filled with dagger sized teeth, widely open.

Adrian didn’t panic, instead, he waited until the last second before stepping unto the wolf’s snout and pushing himself away from the attack.

Cold air rushed past his face as he slid across the snow, his boots leaving shallow lines in the frozen ground as he regained his balance.

The wolf skidded slightly before digging its claws into the earth and turning toward him again.

Its red eyes were now glowing brighter than previously, almost as if to show its growing irritation.

The prey was proving far more troublesome than expected.

The creature then lifted its paw, as the glowing veins on its fur glowed brighter, before slamming it back into the ground, and although the attack was nowhere near Adrian, he still jumped out of the way.

Which was a smart choice.

A second after he moved out the way, multiple transparent ice spikes broke out of the ground.

"It could do that too," he muttered as he recalled the Wolf’s attack pattern from the manhwa.

If he had only relied on the previous Adrian’s instincts, maybe he’d have been a shiskebab.

"Come on," he muttered to himself as he tried reaching within himself once more with his mana.

And that’s when he suddenly felt a click, as if the final piece of a puzzle was in place and the contract had finally been completely established.

"Fina—" he started, only to freeze.

Unfortunately for him, that click had caused him enough distraction for the wolf to take advantage of.

It slammed its paw into the floor again just as it previously had, and exactly where Adrian stood, rose the same icy spikes.

Now, he could’ve avoided the attack as he had before, but he noticed it too late, and by the time he could react.....

SHHK!

The spike cleanly went through his torso and for a brief moment, Adrian didn’t even understand what had happened.

His body was then slightly lifted from the ground as the jagged crystal impaled him, the frozen spike protruding out from his back.

Silence fell across the arena.

From the outside of the arena, several of the observing candidates gasped.

"Did he just—"

"He’s dead!"

Even Sebastian’s calm expression stiffened slightly as his grip around his cane tightened.

«...Ah,» the cat let out as it looked at Adrian’s impaled body, «you idiot.»

Rankings will be discussed later, for now, let's focus on the fight.