At the guild entrance, Noah looked at Erza and said, "From now on, you're the one making the decisions. I won't interfere with your actions unless your life is in danger."

Erza nodded seriously and looked at the request form in her hand. It stated that a giant wild boar had appeared in a village near Magnolia and was destroying their fields. The request was for a wizard to subjugate it.

The village was close to Magnolia, and it took them a considerable amount of time to walk there. Since this was Erza's request, Noah didn't use his teleportation magic to take her directly to the destination.

As they neared the village, they saw an old man standing at the entrance, staring blankly with a worried look on his face. Erza walked over to him. "Excuse me, where can I find the chief of this village?"

The old man came to his senses. He saw it was a little girl asking, and was about to say something, but then he saw Noah behind her. His expression of understanding replaced his worry, and a smile appeared on his face. "You're a wizard, aren't you, little girl? And Noah, is she a newcomer to your guild?"

Erza looked at the two of them, surprised. "You two know each other?"

The old man smiled. "Of course, we do. I'm the chief of this village. Noah used to come here often to complete requests, so of course, I know him. By the way, you must be here for the request we sent out this morning. You got here fast."

Noah said to the old man, "Today, it's Erza who has come to complete the request. I'm just here to watch over her."

"A rookie's first request, is it? Alright. Let me explain the situation." The chief didn't hesitate. He wasn't worried about the request failing; with Noah here, if the rookie couldn't handle it, he would obviously step in.

"Our village has a lot of farmland nearby. Yesterday, a giant wild boar appeared out of nowhere. It ran into our fields and started eating our crops. A large area has already been eaten or trampled. We're afraid it will come back, so we're asking you to subjugate it as soon as possible."

"Was anyone injured?" Erza asked.

The chief shook his head. "Thankfully, the young men working in the fields at the time were fast runners. And the boar was only interested in eating, so no one was hurt."

"Then please take us to the damaged fields now."

"Alright, this way."

The chief led Erza to the farmland outside the village, with Noah following silently behind them.

When they arrived, they could see that the fields were a complete mess. The crops were knocked over everywhere, the soil was churned up, and a few other villagers were standing by, looking at the destruction with sorrowful expressions.

Erza carefully examined the tracks left in the fields. The footprints were very large; clearly, only a giant animal could have left them, which matched the chief's description of a giant wild boar. Following the tracks, Erza saw that they led into the nearby forest.

"Did the boar run off in that direction?" she asked the chief.

"That's right. After it finished eating yesterday, one of the young men who stayed back saw it enter that forest."

"Alright. I'll go in and subjugate it now. Requip!"

Erza stood up straight. A magic circle flashed over her body, and her casual clothes were replaced by a suit of armor. She now wore gauntlets on her hands, an iron sword in her grasp, and long boots on her feet. The armor looked heavy, but it was actually extremely light. Noah had specially commissioned it, made from special materials that provided both flexibility and protection. Given Erza's rapid growth rate, it would still be usable for several years. The iron sword in her hand was also made of a special material, making it sturdy, durable, and incredibly sharp.

After equipping her armor, she prepared to enter the forest. The chief reminded her, "Be careful, rookie. Don't push yourself too hard."

"I know, Chief."

With that, Erza was the first to step into the forest. Noah waved to the chief and followed her in.

Inside the forest, sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, creating a dappled pattern of light and shadow on the ground. Erza moved carefully between the trees, trying to lighten her steps to avoid making any noise. Her eyes were fixed on the hoofprints on the ground and the trampled branches and grass, following the trail to find the boar's hiding place.

As she went deeper into the forest, the air became more humid, the trees grew taller and denser, and the sunlight grew scarce. The surroundings became much darker, which made it harder to find clues. Erza stopped and began to carefully search her surroundings.

Suddenly, a low grunting sound came from the distance. Her heart leaped. The owner of that sound had to be her target. She crouched down, moving even more quietly, and slowly approached the direction of the sound.

She came to a patch of tall grass. Peeking through the gaps, she saw a clearing, and in the middle of it, a massive wild boar was lying there, resting. Just lying down, it was over two meters tall, giving off an immense sense of pressure.

This is a good chance, Erza thought. She slowly stood up, lightened her steps, and moved out of the grass, tiptoeing towards the boar.

When she was still a few meters away, the boar seemed to sense the danger. Its closed eyes suddenly snapped open, and its blood-red eyes stared intently at her.

Erza was startled but quickly forced herself to calm down. There was no choice but to fight now. A head-on confrontation was clearly impossible; she would have to find an opening.

The boar stood up, let out a low growl, and then charged fiercely at her. Erza quickly dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the charge, but the stench from the boar made her face wrinkle in disgust.

Seeing that it had missed, the boar slowed, turned, and charged at her again.

Having successfully dodged once, Erza was much calmer. She dodged to the side again, but this time, as she moved, she swung the longsword in her hand, slashing at the boar's flank. The sharp tip of the sword easily sliced through its skin and flesh, and blood immediately began to pour from the wound.

Although the wound wasn't fatal, the boar clearly felt the pain. It let out an enraged roar, turned, and charged at her again.

Erza continued to dodge, using her sword to open up more wounds on the boar with each pass. Blood splattered into the air, and some of it got on her. After several exchanges like this, the boar had several more gashes on its body, but Erza had also used up a great deal of her energy. She stood there, panting, holding her sword with both hands, her eyes fixed on the boar.

~~~

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