[Feral Instinct Mastery Complete!]
A violent shiver ran through Max’s body, and he dropped one hand to the ground, trying to steady himself, but his muscles were already adjusting.
The unfamiliar movements he’d been borrowing from Razorhounds no longer felt borrowed at all.
His breathing slowed. He could hear the scrape of the Alpha’s claws beyond the wall and feel vibrations passing through the floor, but the biggest change was how quickly his body responded.
He no longer had to work through what each sound meant. His muscles were already preparing for the danger it warned him about.
The beast had been gathering its weight against a cracked pillar just outside the passage.
’It’s going to bring the whole thing down.’
SWOOSH!
Max moved before the next blow landed.
BOOOOM!
The pillar shattered, and part of the passage ceiling collapsed behind him. A cloud of dust swallowed the narrow gap as Max slipped beneath a falling slab and rolled into the main chamber.
Stone crashed where he’d been kneeling only a moment earlier.
Max came up on one knee, coughing. The Alpha stood several steps away, staring at him through the dust, and for a moment neither moved. Then Max rose slowly, keeping most of his weight off his injured leg.
"Alright," he said between breaths. "Now it’s just you and me."
The Alpha answered with a deep growl. It didn’t look angry about losing its guards. If anything, it seemed more cautious.
Max glanced at its hind legs again. A faint glow pulsed beneath the fur before vanishing.
’That burst. It doesn’t just run fast. It builds up mana and releases it all at once.’
He knew enough about mana circulation to recognize how difficult that was. The joints and muscles needed to survive the acceleration, and a mistake at that speed could tear a creature apart.
Somewhere beneath the fear, his curiosity stirred.
’I wonder what those muscles taste like.’
The Alpha moved, but this time Max saw the warning before the burst. Its hindquarters lowered, its toes dug into the floor, and the faint glow returned.
He shifted to the right just as it launched itself forward.
BOOOM!
The Alpha shot past him, its claws tearing through the place he’d occupied. Max didn’t chase it.
His feet carried him into the open space beside its hindquarters before he’d consciously chosen the angle, and he slashed at its flank.
SHNK!
The gauntlet opened a wound. Max was already withdrawing when the beast twisted to bite, and he slipped beneath its teeth.
For a heartbeat he moved around the much larger creature without letting it turn to face him. Then the Alpha drove its head sideways with surprising force, catching Max before he could escape.
BAAM!
He struck a stone pillar and dropped to the floor, pain shooting through his ribs.
"Gah!"
The Alpha rushed him again, this time without using the burst.
Max barely managed to duck beneath its jaws and roll behind the pillar.
The claws hit the stone instead, gouging a deep groove across its surface.
’Even now, I can’t afford to take a clean hit.’
His new mastery was helping. He could read the creature’s posture and react before its attack fully developed, but knowing where a blow would land didn’t mean his body could always move far enough to escape it.
The Alpha seemed to understand that too. It began slowing down between attacks, watching which direction Max favored. Each time he tried to circle toward its injured flank, it turned to keep its jaws between them.
When Max shifted left, the Alpha lowered its hindquarters. He prepared to dodge the burst, but instead the creature sprang only a short distance and swiped with its front claws.
SHRKK!
Max stumbled backward as three new cuts opened across his chest.
’It faked it?’
The beast had noticed him reacting to its hind legs and used that against him.
Max backed away, breathing heavily as blood ran down his shirt.
"You’re a clever bastard."
The Alpha stalked toward him, taking its time now. Max glanced around the chamber. The broken pillar near the passage had left sharp chunks of stone scattered across the ground, and one long, pointed section rested against the base of another column.
He looked from the stone to the Alpha’s hind legs and an idea formed.
’If I can’t keep up with that speed, I’ll make it hurt itself using it.’
Max retreated toward the damaged column, dragging his wounded leg just enough to make the weakness obvious.
The Alpha followed, but it didn’t charge. It had seen enough of Max’s tricks to know that an easy opening might not be genuine.
Max forced himself to wait. When the beast came within a few steps, he suddenly lunged at its wounded flank.
WHOOSH!
The Alpha twisted away and snapped at his shoulder. Max managed to avoid the teeth, but his injured calf almost gave out beneath him.
He staggered against the column, and the Alpha saw it. Its hind legs lowered.
’Come on...’
Mana gathered beneath its fur. Max waited another fraction of a second, until its weight shifted forward and the stone under its toes began to crack.
Then he threw himself down behind the column.
BOOM!
The Alpha burst forward and tried to turn, but its speed carried its hindquarters into the sharp edge of the fallen stone.
CRACK!
The pointed rock tore into the muscle above its rear leg, and the creature slammed sideways against the column with a furious howl.
"GRAAAAAAH!"
Max rolled through the dust and sprang onto its injured side.
SHNK!
His gauntlet plunged deep into the torn muscle, but the Alpha bucked violently, throwing him off before he could strike again.
Max landed badly on his wounded leg and almost collapsed, but he caught himself against the floor with his free hand.
The Alpha turned to face him. Blood poured down one hind leg, and it was putting less weight on that side now.
However, its jaws were still strong, and the mana pulsing through its other leg hadn’t faded.
Max tried to steady his breathing as the wounded monster began circling him, carefully avoiding the broken rocks. He followed its movement, keeping his gauntlet raised.
The Alpha made a short rush toward his left, then stopped as he moved to intercept. It stepped back again, waiting for him to lose his balance.
Max refused to chase. Then, with almost no warning, it gathered mana in its uninjured hind leg and leaped.
It wasn’t aiming for his chest, but for the side where his wounded calf made it hardest to move.
Max’s eyes widened.
’It’s going for my leg!’
He couldn’t dodge far enough, so he dropped directly beneath the attack and threw his gauntlet upward.
SHNK!
The claws caught the beast beneath its jaw, but its weight still crashed into him.
THUUUD!
Max hit the ground flat on his back, with the Alpha’s chest pressing down on him and its jaws snapping inches from his face.
Its blood ran over his arm, making his grip slippery.
He pushed against the beast’s throat with his free forearm, but the pressure was overwhelming. His shoulders trembled, and his elbow slowly began to bend.
One more inch and those jaws would close around his face.
Max felt real fear then, the kind that left no room for excitement or clever remarks.
’No. Not here.’
The Alpha shifted its weight, trying to crush his arm aside.
At the same instant, Max felt the wounded hind leg drag against the ground.
He knew what that movement meant. The beast was about to brace itself and push down harder.
Instead of continuing to resist its entire weight, Max turned onto his side and drove his knee into the damaged leg.
CRACK!
The Alpha howled and its body shifted away from him.
Max used that opening to wrench his gauntlet free and thrust it into the beast’s throat.
SHNK!
The claws sank deep, but the Alpha still struggled, its front paws tearing at his shoulders.
Max screamed and pushed upward with the last strength he had.
"JUST DIE ALREADY!"
He dragged the claws across its throat. A wet tearing sound followed, and hot blood poured over his chest as the beast’s massive head dropped beside him.
For several seconds, Max didn’t dare move. Then the Alpha’s body stopped struggling.
DING!
[E-rank Razorhound Alpha slain.]
[EXP +150]
[Level Up!]