Alex throws another fireball at the Wereleopard, but it avoids the fireball easily. Wereleopard is known to be very agile and fast, so it's not strange for it to dodge Alex's fireball.
Knowing that using fireballs is useless, Alex decides to fight the Wereleopard head on. He charges toward the beast at a high speed and the Wereleopard also charges toward him.
The Wereleopard jumps, spreading its claws and opening its mouth wide, showing its sharp fangs. It lunges at Alex who looks similar to the Wereleopard, just with blue and black fur made of fire.
After jumping, the Wereleopard swipes its claws to the front to scratch Alex. But Alex lowers his body to dodge it. Then he jumps up while swinging his claws.
His attack hits the Wereleopard that can't dodge because it's still in the air. Alex's claws cut the Wereleopard's skin from the stomach to its lower jaw, creating not too deep cut wounds.
"Such hard and thick skin."
Its skin is tougher than Alex thought, that's why his claws couldn't cut it deep enough. Those cut wounds only anger the Wereleopard that doesn't seem to be bothered by the wounds.
"It has a high pain tolerance, huh?"
The Wereleopard rushes to attack Alex again using its claws. It swipes its claws wildly like a mindless beast.
"Werebeasts are known to be intelligent magical creature types. But it seems you are just a beast relying on its instinct. You don't even try to have a better look at your opponent before attacking. Even a normal leopard is smarter than you."
Alex smirks while moving around to avoid the Wereleopard's attacks. Its attacks are fast, but its movements are big and wide, so it's easy to dodge those attacks.
Still, Alex needs to fully concentrate and can't underestimate his opponent even if it attacks mindlessly. He also needs to avoid bringing the beast closer to Cana who hides in the bush.
"Alright, let's try the boxing moves that old man Jake taught me a while ago."
Alex didn't just take small jobs in Magnolia. He also learned a lot of things from the senior Guild members who happily taught him a lot of things. Though he needed to entertain those drunkards and sometimes even play betting games with them to make them teach him things if they lose.
He didn't always win, but once he won, he would squeeze their knowledge and experience. Alex knows that their years of experience will be very useful for him, so he always makes them teach him things he doesn't know.
A senior Mage who will retire soon, Jake actually taught him some boxing skills. It's similar to modern boxing, that's why Alex is very interested to learn it because it also seems practical.
Alex clenches his fists and spreads his legs a little while lowering his body. He puts his fists in front of his face as he dodged the Wereleopard's diagonal left claw attack by moving to the side.
Then, Alex sends a strong body blow to the Wereleopard's left ribs because its left body is wide open. The punch pushes the Wereleopard a little to the right and it really hurts it.
Alex doesn't stop and chases the Wereleopard. He can't miss the chance to send another attack while his opponent is still not ready to counter. That's what the seniors in Fairy Tail taught him and Ur also taught him that.
He rushes with his head down, covered by his fists and forearms just in case his opponent attacks him while he charges. But the Wereleopard doesn't send any attack, so Alex can get very close to it.
Alex then sends his strongest left hook at its stomach, making the Wereleopard cough all the air in its lungs. Suddenly, some memories from his blurry past life appear in his mind, memories about boxing anime scenes.
"Heh, let's see if those moves really can be used."
Alex slides under the Wereleopard that bent down after its stomach was hit. He sends a powerful uppercut while also pushing his body up strongly with his legs, making his punch even stronger.
"Gazelle Punch!"
The punch sends the Wereleopard's head up and it also spits some blood because of how strong the punch is.
"Shit! I can't get this right. Well, let's improvise the Dempsey Roll."
Alex tries to swing his body to the left and right in an infinity symbol, but he can't do it well. Besides, this move is used to punch his opponent's face, left and right, back and forth. However, the Wereleopard is too tall for him to hit like that.
So he needs to improvise it. He needs to bring its head down to his level, so Alex kicks its crotch. The Wereleopard feels the miserable pain coursing through all over its body and it falls on its knees.
It can't even hold its crotch to ease the pain yet when Alex suddenly starts punching its face from left and right continuously. Alex doesn't even try to roll or swing his body like how it should be and just punch the Wereleopard's face however he likes.
"HAHAHA! This isn't Dempsey Roll. It's Rock n' Roll. ORRAAAA!"
Alex keeps punching the Wereleopard and doesn't realize that it has lost consciousness. He just keeps punching until he's tired, finally allowing the poor Wereleopard to rest even though it's on the verge of death already.
"Is it dead?" Cana asks while popping her head out of the bush.
"Huft! Huft! Almost. Do you want to kill it?"
"Do we need to kill it?"
"That's the easiest option. We can just capture it and release it far from human civilizations. But I doubt it will stay in the forest for long after knowing how easy it is to take food from humans. It's too dangerous to leave it alive."
"O-okay then, but you do it." Cana is still not used to taking lives even if it's a wild creature like this.
Alex nods and grabs the Wereleopard's neck as Cana turns around. As usual, he lets Shukaku and Matatabi pull the magical creature's soul and power out of its body.
They have figured out a way to only take magical creatures' souls and power after learning in the Fairy Tail library. Its soul and power is too useful to unlock the other Tailed Beasts' seals, so they can't waste those.
"Alright, it's dead. Let's return to the village to finish our job."
Cana turns the corpse into a card, so it's easy to carry it back to the village. When they arrive, everyone is surprised to see the Wereleopard's corpse. It's bigger than they thought, after all.
The villagers feel very glad that they return safely and even manage to kill the target. But they feel very guilty for lying about the target of this subjugation job.
When the villagers bow to apologize to them, everyone suddenly hears a loud noise from afar. They look at it and see 3 magic cars coming at high speeds to the village.
"Hmm? Why are they here?"
The ones who come are Fairy Tail Mages, including Makarov.
"Why are you coming here, Master?"
"Well, someone from the village came and explained everything. We were obviously worried about you two because the target is a Wereleopard. But it seems you handled it without any problem." Makarov looks at the Wereleopard's corpse and nods in approval.
"I see. I planned to report this matter to you when we return, but it seems they still have some senses to ask for your help for the worst scenario."
"That seems to be the case. Now, why don't you rest while I handle everything with the village chief?"
Alex nods and leaves the scene with Cana to get some drinks. They've finished their job, so they can rest. It's Makarov's duty to handle the formal stuff, so they leave it to him.
In the end, they return to Magnolia after a few hours. The village will pay more for the reward, but in installments. The Guild will pay the appropriate rewards for Alex and Cana first, so it's like the Guild is giving the village a loan.
Makarov also tells the village chief that if something like this happens again, they need to tell the Guild the truth. Only then can the Guild help them find a solution.
But through this incident, Alex finally understands that a Magic Guild isn't just a place for Mages to get jobs. They also need to help the communities.
"Remember, Alex. The effects Guilds have on communities are the factors that differentiate the Great Magic Guilds and Bad Magic Guilds. Even if their sizes are small, they are Great Guilds if they are helpful for the people around them and vice versa."
"I understand, Master. But Fairy Tail often destroys things even though we also help people a lot. So are we a Great Guild or a Bad Guild?"
Makarov doesn't answer Alex's question and just smiles as he proceeds to sleep. Seems like the border between being a Great and a Bad Guild is too narrow.
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Thank you for reading this story. Please support by clicking like or vote if you like this story. It is much appreciated.
Read ahead up to +50 chapters in my patreon page, patreon.com/GrimFairy
Ch. 78: Roubaul