The Little Witch’s Daily Struggle – Chapter 678

Chapter 678: The Hybrid Sacred Beast

I believe that anyone who saw such a majestic, fierce, and ferocious monster would not think it had any connection to the sacred and elegant unicorn, apart from the matching spiral horn on its head.
But that was precisely the case. Miss Leo Man had personally examined it. Although it was unbelievable, it truly carried the bloodline of a unicorn.

Despite unicorns resembling horses, their physical structures have subtle differences in detail. For instance, their skin actually has scales, their hooves have mane-like hair that appears like flying flames, and their tails are flowing, unlike the drooping tails of ordinary horses.
Of course, the most significant feature is its unique spiral horn, adorned with spiral ridges. Additionally, there’s the sacred aura it emanates, as if it were made of pure light energy.

During Miss Leo Man’s examination, the hindquarters of the hippogriff before her perfectly matched the characteristics of a unicorn, and their auras were also very much in sync.
“I thought you were joking when you told me about a hippogriff with unicorn blood. I didn’t expect it to be real,” Miss Leo Man said, looking at the Sacred Beast with complex emotions. A certain beautiful fantasy from her girlish days had been shattered.
Not long ago, she still believed that unicorns were absolutely pure Sacred Beasts, almost symbols of divinity and light themselves. Miss Leo Man had planned to seek out a unicorn and form a contract once she became stronger. Her teacher had even told her that only pure virgins could win a unicorn’s favor.
However, the freak before her had instantly shattered her illusions. It turned out that unicorns could hybridize with other animals and produce offspring, and that males could also form contracts with them, even if they weren’t pure-blooded unicorns.
Miss Leo Man had to try to convince herself that this was, in fact, a hippogriff, not a unicorn, to prevent her aspirations from completely crumbling.

“That’s wonderful, Older Brother Jayad! Summoning such a rare species is absolutely amazing!” I excitedly congratulated Jayad and hugged the hippogriff’s large wings, nuzzling against them. They were so warm, and the feathers were so sturdy. Moreover, it wasn’t aggressive towards me and just obediently lay down on the ground.
In my opinion, this was like pulling an SSR in a single draw from a gacha pool of Sacred Beasts – pulling out an ultra-rare species. After all, while I’d heard of people summoning unicorns, had anyone ever summoned a hippogriff with unicorn lineage?

“I actually didn’t know what species it was. I just followed the guidance of the medium and signed a contract with it. I have to thank Parul for this,” Jayad said, picking up a piece of mane hair I had given him.
“This mane hair doesn’t seem to be from it either,” I remarked. A clear difference was visible when comparing them side-by-side. Although the medium could be considered white-haired, it had too many mixed colors compared to the hippogriff before us.
This hippogriff was entirely pure white, with only the edges of its wings being black, creating a striking contrast. Furthermore, the difference in aura was significant; the one before us was more sacred.
It could only be said that they were closely related kin with similar bloodlines, but certainly not the same being. If the medium’s owner was like this hippogriff, the difference from a normal hippogriff would be too vast, especially that sacred aura, which a merchant would never mistake.
To describe it from my perspective, the owner of that mane hair was likely more inclined towards being a hippogriff, merely possessing unicorn blood. However, the creature before us was a true celestial being, and its sacred aura was incredibly pure.
The reason probably lay in its other half of the bloodline. I loudly asked, “Miss Leo Man, can you discern what species the ‘hippogriff’ part of this hippogriff is? I don’t think it resembles a normal hippogriff.”
When I called out to her, Miss Leo Man snapped out of her shock from shattered illusions. It was then that she realized that, indeed, the head of this hippogriff was different from that of an ordinary one.
Not only the horn on its forehead, but the eagle-like portion of its head also differed in details from other hippogriffs. Of course, this was easily noticeable, as the heads of ordinary hippogriffs were not covered in pure white feathers.
This made the unique hippogriff’s head, at first glance, somewhat resemble a pigeon. However, pigeons are not this fierce. I do know of a bird of prey that looks quite similar to this head: the bald eagle, the national bird of Eagle Nation in my previous life and the origin of that nickname.
The eagle-like head of this hippogriff was like an enlarged bald eagle, more ferocious than a sea eagle, and its entire body was a similar snow-white color.

“This… it doesn’t seem like an ordinary eagle species either. Wait! Could it also be a Sacred Beast?” Miss Leo Man suddenly thought of something and began flipping through the Celestial Creature illustrated book in her hands.
“Ah! It really is here!” Miss Leo Man exclaimed, holding the illustrated book and comparing it intently with the eagle-like head. The hippogriff became visibly uncomfortable, twisting its head as if trying to avoid Miss Leo Man’s gaze.
Granted, though its face looked fierce, the longer you looked, the more its eyes seemed a bit vacant, and its head-twisting motion also appeared somewhat endearingly clumsy.
I went around behind Miss Leo Man and saw the illustration in her book: a pure white giant eagle soaring through the clouds, appearing both ferocious and sacred, with only the edges of its wings being black. At first glance, it indeed bore a strong resemblance to the front half of the hippogriff.
“Sky Crown Eagle. This is also a celestial Sacred Beast. Legend has it that its appearance signifies abundant harvests and victory in war. It’s a Sacred Beast considered an auspicious omen by the Nordic people,” Miss Leo Man read from the illustrated guide.
“No wonder. I was wondering why it was like this. So, the other part of its bloodline is also a Sacred Beast,” Miss Leo Man sighed. However, this made it a little more acceptable to her.
“Uh, sorry to interrupt, but it seems we’ve already been noticed,” I reminded them.
We hadn’t gone far, and there were many hunters, mercenaries, and adventurers nearby who were also out hunting, especially more so these past few days.
Now that Jayad had summoned such a conspicuous Sacred Beast, its pure white body alone was enough to attract attention. It naturally drew the gaze of people passing by. If we hadn’t been standing beside it, clearly identified as its owner, someone might have mistaken it for a Magical Beast and prepared to attack.
However, staying here for too long was not an option. Even with an owner, it was hard to guarantee that someone wouldn’t get any greedy ideas, especially since the hippogriff’s pure white body indicated its rarity, and there were plenty of people who sought to capture such rare monsters.
“Yeah, let’s move further away first. Uh, can you ride it?” Miss Leo Man asked Jayad. Many apprentices were initially afraid of Magical Beasts, and even if they had a closer relationship, they wouldn’t dare to ride them.
“Of course,” Jayad replied. He stroked the hippogriff’s back and directly mounted it. He also pulled me up with him. Indeed, the fur on its back was very comfortable to sit on.
No saddle or reins were needed. While it would be better to have them, the hippogriff let out a cheerful whinny, carried me and Jayad, and then flapped its wings, flying into the air. It gracefully circled twice before soaring higher.