Chapter 46

"Knowing where the dam is is quite simple; just pay attention to the condition of the river, meow." Wenlong explained with a rather proud tone.

"Look, this dam is over thirty meters long and seven to eight meters wide, capable of cutting a river in half. This would inevitably reduce the water flow downstream. The location where we battled the beaver last night still had a plentiful water supply, so it’s very likely that we were upstream of the dam. Another reason is that if there is a dam downstream, considering the water storage effect of the dam, the water surface would become wider as you move from upstream towards the dam. So, taking these two points into consideration, we can be sure that the dam is nearby! Meow!"

"Ah, I see! Mr. Cat, I’ve learned a lot again!" Catherine said happily, "But although we’ve seen the dam, where is the beaver?"

"It should be nearby. Beavers are very territorial creatures. Since we’re already in this area, it’s likely that the beaver will come out... meow..."

While saying this, Wenlong carefully observed the surroundings. However, after scanning the area, he didn’t notice anything particularly unusual.

"Beavers usually build their nests inside the dam and dig dedicated tunnels connecting the nest to the bottom of the water and the shore, ensuring they can appear in the water or on land at any time. So..."

With this thought, Wenlong changed his posture, crouching down and pressing his ear to the ground.

"This is..."

Soon, Wenlong heard the sound of vibrations growing louder, indicating that something was approaching quickly!

"It’s right under our feet, meow!"

Hearing Wenlong’s warning, Catherine immediately sprang into action, running a few steps to the side. In the next second, a chunk of earth was torn open, and a massive beast burst out. The scattered earth flew several meters high, a testament to the beast’s sudden attack.

Its head resembled a rat, with sharp, wide claws, and its body was covered in reddish-brown fur. Its hairless belly was purple, and it had a broad, flat tail that looked like a large paddle.

"Fortunately, I had heard Mr. Cat’s explanation earlier, or I would have surely been thrown by this giant beast." Catherine thought to herself while carefully observing the giant beast in front of her. Indeed, it was the monster that had ambushed her by the river last night—the beaver!

The beaver, however, looked somewhat displeased. Clearly, it was unhappy with Wenlong and Catherine invading its territory, and it was also frustrated that its sudden attack had not gained any advantage!

The beaver first looked at Wenlong, then shifted its gaze to Catherine, and finally fixed its eyes on her.

Then the beaver roared and charged at Catherine!

"Alright, woman, let me see the results of your training!"

This time, Wenlong did not act himself but gave Catherine this command. He knew that if he and Catherine acted together, with Catherine just helping to restrain the beaver, he could defeat it in a short time.

After all, it was just a beaver. As long as it wasn’t in the water, there was nothing to fear. This was Wenlong’s thinking, so he unhesitatingly gave Catherine the opportunity to fight the beaver alone to truly test her training results!

"Alright, Mr. Cat," Catherine replied firmly.

Facing the sudden charge of the beaver, Catherine did not feel the slightest bit of panic. Instead, she immediately drew the giant bone sword from her back and held it in front of her chest in a defensive stance.

"The timing is perfect, just before the beaver strikes. Her center of gravity is very stable, so she should be able to withstand this attack..." Wenlong observed as the first clash between Catherine and the beaver was about to happen.

"Bang!"

As Wenlong had predicted, the beaver’s massive claw swung at Catherine, striking her giant sword and forcing her to take two steps back. But... that was all.

"Ugh... such great strength... it’s clearly not on the same level as a regular wild boar..." even Catherine had to admit.

However, the beaver’s attack did not end there. After the first strike was blocked, the beaver launched three more strikes, each one hitting Catherine’s giant bone sword with a "bang" "bang" sound!

Although Catherine was very strong, the beaver was not on the level of a regular wild boar but rather comparable to a boar king. Therefore, even Catherine could not simply push it away with her strength alone. She could only continue to defend, trying to block all of the beaver’s attacks.

Fortunately, after several battles, Catherine had gained some experience. This time, she maintained a steady center of gravity throughout the beaver’s attacks, and each time the beaver tried to strike through the gaps in her sword, Catherine quickly adjusted her position to block the attacks.

Thus, although the beaver’s every strike caused sparks to fly from the giant bone sword, Catherine only took a few steps back, and her defense remained as solid as ever, without any real damage.

On the other hand, after several failed attacks, the beaver seemed to retreat, no longer pursuing Catherine. Instead, it used its broad claws to push backward, leaping away.

"There’s an opportunity!" Seeing the beaver leap backward, Catherine noticed the opening. During the leap, the beaver could not use its sharp claws to attack her again.

Moreover, the continuous defense had already made Catherine eager to counterattack. So, as soon as she saw the opening, she immediately thought of using her thousand-times-practiced vertical slash!

"Mr. Cat, please see my strength!" Catherine thought, abandoning her defensive stance and taking a step forward while raising her giant bone sword high!

"Vertical Slash!"

Catherine’s vertical slash was fast and powerful, but the timing seemed a bit off.

This was the difference between practice and real combat. In practice, it was just a simple swing, which could indeed improve posture and speed. However, in real combat, timing was also a crucial factor!