Eryon dropped into a low stance, feet spread slightly apart for balance. His hands tightened around the shaft of his spear. It felt heavier than before, as if the weight of the fight itself had settled into his grip. His gaze locked onto the beast ahead.
A giant jaguar.
Its muscular body was coiled and tense, every sinew carved with lethal purpose. Razor-sharp eyes stared back at him, radiating the instinct of a born killer.
Cold blood flowed through Eryon's veins, yet he did not flinch. The moment their eyes met, a crushing pressure rolled over him. It felt like dominance given form, a gravitational field trying to force his knees into the stone.
The jaguar growled.
The sound was low, almost swallowed by the thunder of the waterfall, but it was enough to make every muscle in Eryon's body tighten. His breathing remained steady. His heartbeat stayed controlled.
Then he activated his skill.
[Berserk Activated: Stat strength doubled]
[Risk: Extreme fatigue if sustained too long]
Power surged through his body.
His muscles pulsed with renewed force. His vision sharpened. The world slowed, as if reality itself hesitated before him.
Without delay, Eryon drove his foot into the ground and shot forward. His spear thrust straight ahead, aimed for the jaguar's heart.
But this predator was no ordinary beast.
With lightning speed, the jaguar slipped aside. Its massive claw swept forward in retaliation, slicing horizontally through the air with deadly intent.
Eryon reacted instantly.
He twisted the spear and raised the shaft to block.
Clang!
Metal met claw. Sparks burst from the impact. The force drove Eryon backward three steps, his knees bending as he absorbed the blow.
'Okay,' he thought. 'This thing is fast. Strong. And it learns with every move. But I am not an ordinary fighter.'
His eyes never left the jaguar. The beast circled slowly, maintaining distance, watching him with unsettling intelligence. It moved like a chess player reading the board.
'Its brain may be primitive,' Eryon analyzed, 'but its reflexes and muscles operate almost like response-based AI. If I keep attacking head-on, it will win with sheer speed.'
But every system has patterns.
And patterns can be broken.
His gaze flicked around the battlefield.
The cavern ceiling dipped low in several places. Fragile stalactites hung overhead, their bases cracked with age. The ground beneath their feet was slick with water sprayed from the waterfall.
A plan formed.
Eryon began to move left, slowly, deliberately, as if attempting to circle the beast. The jaguar mirrored him, body low, muscles coiled like compressed steel.
Then Eryon feinted.
He lunged sharply toward the jaguar's leg.
At the last instant, he shifted momentum and drove the spear into the ground beneath its claws instead.
Stone shattered. Water sprayed upward. Debris and droplets blasted toward the jaguar's eyes.
The beast flinched.
Only for a fraction of a second.
It was enough.
Eryon did not hesitate. He thrust his hand forward.
[Devil's Touch Activated]
[Effect: Strength +10 for 1 minute]
[Debuff Applied: -20% strength reduction to target]
A grin tugged at Eryon's lips. Just what he needed.
He sidestepped, twisting his body with coiled energy, and hurled his spear like a javelin toward the cavern wall. The throw was precise, aimed directly at a massive stalactite above.
Crackkk!
Stone fractured and collapsed.
The jaguar leapt backward, trying to escape, but it was too slow. The falling chunk slammed into its shoulder, staggering the beast as it let out a furious snarl.
Eryon was already moving.
He closed the distance in a heartbeat, drawing a dagger from behind his back mid-stride. His strike was fast and clean, the blade plunging into the side of the jaguar's neck where muscle met tendon, a vulnerable point unprotected by bone.
[Critical Hit: 892 damage inflicted]
[Bleeding Applied: -35 HP/sec for 10 seconds]
The jaguar roared in agony and thrashed wildly. One desperate swipe caught Eryon and sent him flying. His back slammed into the cavern wall, the impact knocking the air from his lungs.
'I have to finish this now,' he thought grimly, 'before the backlash from this skill drops me.'
Gritting his teeth, he pushed through the pain and retrieved his spear. He circled behind the beast, moving toward its blind spot. The jaguar was swaying now, weakened by blood loss and shock.
Eryon leapt.
He raised the spear overhead and drove it down with all his weight, plunging the blade into the jaguar's back.
Sssshkk!
[Fatal Hit: Spine ruptured. Target immobilized.]
The jaguar froze.
Its massive body trembled once, then collapsed onto the stone. Blood pooled beneath it, spreading across the cavern floor. Its final breath escaped in a low exhale.
Silence followed.
[You have slain a Primal Jaguar. Gained 134 EXP!]
[Congratulations, you've leveled up to Level 2!]
[+2 to all attributes]
Eryon exhaled sharply, chest heaving as adrenaline faded. Moments later, exhaustion crashed over him. His limbs ached, muscles burning from the toll of Berserk.
But it was manageable.
Not unbearable.
[Quest "Fruit of Venom" completed]
[You are the 113th human to successfully finish the first quest. Bonus EXP: +25]
[You've obtained a unique skill: Predator's Eyesight (D-tier)]
[Unique Skill Description: A permanent ability that alters the user's biological structure]
[Skill Description: Eyes evolve to mimic natural hunters, allowing long-range precision vision and detection of even the slightest movement. In Focus Mode, the user's eyes morph into apex predator eyes, allowing vision through mist, light darkness, and tracking of fast-moving targets]
[Bonus Effects: +25% accuracy with ranged attacks | Tracking enabled for high-speed entities]
As the system messages faded, a warm pulse surged behind Eryon's eyes. It was not painful. It felt like something awakening.
The world sharpened.
Details he had never noticed before sprang into clarity. Fine cracks in stone. The shimmer of water on leaves. The subtle movement of air. His vision had not fully transformed yet, but his irises darkened slightly, narrowing with predatory focus.
He blinked once.
When his eyes opened, his pupils had thinned into razor-like slits, glowing faintly amber, unmistakably inhuman.
A knowing smile curved his lips.
"Are these… the eyes of a predator?"
Satisfaction settled into his chest. He had leveled up. He had gained a new skill. A unique one. D-tier, but far from ordinary.
Not bad.
Not bad at all.
"And there's still that big cat… and the fruit," he muttered with a smirk, his gaze shifting toward the jaguar's corpse and beyond it, where the golden fruit continued to glow softly in the darkness.