The forest parted into a wide clearing, as Jayden walked into it, sunlight spilling onto an open stretch where the trees broke away to reveal a shimmering lake. Its waters rippled with the afternoon breeze, calm and unassuming, but the scene at its bank was anything but peaceful.

Jayden slowed his stride, his sharp eyes narrowing on the tableau before him.

Six Howlers… wolf-like beasts with jet-black fur and glowing eyes circled a group of four Tremor Gators. The wolves prowled in low arcs, their snarls echoing across the clearing, lips curled back to reveal dripping fangs. Their claws dug shallow furrows in the dirt, their hackles raised in agitation.

The Tremor Gators, meanwhile, stood with their massive bodies half in, half out of the shallows. Their scales shimmered a stony gray, ridged like jagged rock. Each gator's maw opened wide every time a Howler crept too close, snapping with bone-crunching force that sent droplets of lakewater scattering. Their massive tails swept across the mud defensively, churning up the earth in heavy arcs.

The tension was palpable. Both groups were E-Rank. And both sides wanted blood, but neither had made the first move. Yet.

Jayden smirked at the standoff. "Well, isn't this convenient," he murmured. His claws slid out with a metallic shnk, glinting like silver in the sunlight. "Guess I'll just help you all out… by killing every last one of you."

He stepped forward, deliberately crunching a branch underfoot.

The sound was loud in the clearing, and instantly all ten beasts froze. Heads turned. Yellow eyes of the Howlers locked onto him. The Tremor Gators swiveled their reptilian gazes his way, throats rumbling with guttural hisses.

Jayden kept walking. Calm. Controlled. A predator among predators. His smirk widened.

That was all it took.

As if by silent pact, both sides abandoned their squabble and redirected their rage at the newcomer. A chorus of snarls and guttural bellows tore through the clearing as wolves and gators alike lunged at him.

Jayden's grin sharpened. "Perfect."

The Howlers were faster and ahead… so they came first, sprinting in a blur of black fur. The lead wolf leapt high, jaws wide to tear Jayden's throat.

But Jayden didn't even flinch. His telekinesis surged invisibly, and with a mere flick of will, the wolf's leap veered sideways. Midair, its body twisted unnaturally before slamming into the ground with a crunch, ribs snapping on impact. It let out a low howl before going still. Dead.

The second wolf was on him instantly, claws slashing for his gut. Jayden caught its wrist mid-swipe, twisted, and drove his claws into its chest in a brutal thrust. Blood sprayed hot across his arm as he kicked it off his claws and sent it tumbling into the dirt. Lifeless.

The third and fourth Howlers flanked, one left, one right, jaws snapping in tandem. Jayden crouched low, spinning on his heel, his telekinesis grabbed a fist-sized stone from the ground and hurled it with bullet force. It shattered the left wolf's skull mid-lunge.

The right wolf lunged at his exposed side… Jayden's claws swept horizontally, carving a bloody gash across its throat. The beast collapsed in a choking gurgle, before slowly passing away.

And at that moment, the Tremor Gators joined the fray.

The ground shook as the largest of them stomped forward, its massive tail swinging in a lethal arc. Jayden sprang back a split second before it crashed into the earth, the impact leaving a crater where he'd stood. Dirt and shards of rock blasted into the air.

Jayden scoffed, already leaping forward again. He landed on top of the gator's head, claws punching downward.

SHHKKTT!

His blades pierced scale and bone, but the monster bucked wildly, thrashing to dislodge him.

Jayden pushed off, flipping backward, landing smoothly on the ground. The gator snapped its jaws, lunging toward him, but Jayden's hand flicked up. His telekinesis yanked a fallen Howler's corpse into the air and shoved it straight into the gator's jaws.

CRUNCH!

The reptile bit down, bones and flesh splintering, its roar muffled by its unwilling meal. Jayden didn't waste the opening, he charged, claws blazing, and raked across its exposed underbelly. Deep gashes split its scales, blood oozing thick and dark.

A guttural growl warned him a second gator was charging from the flank. Its tail whipped around in another sweeping strike, fast for its bulk. Jayden dropped low and rolled beneath it, dirt streaking his jacket. He sprang up behind it, both claws driving into the thick muscle of its tail.

The gator roared, twisting to strike him, but Jayden was already gone… his telekinesis propelled him like a dart, blasting him upward onto the beast's back. His claws carved savagely into its spine in quick, merciless stabs. The monster shrieked, convulsing, before collapsing under its own weight.

But the wolves weren't done. The last two Howlers circled back, attacking in tandem. One darted in low, aiming for his calf, while the other lunged high for his throat.

Jayden sidestepped at the last second, telekinetically yanking the lower wolf upward mid-leap. It collided head-first with the airborne one, and before they even hit the ground, Jayden was already there, claws flashing.

SCCRRTCH!

SCCRRTCH!

Two heads rolled across the dirt, blood spraying from their necks.

The last two gators weren't idle. One surged from the lake, using the water for momentum, while another lunged low, jaws wide enough to bite him in half.

Jayden's eyes gleamed coldly.

He lifted a hand, and the soil beneath them shifted. Using telekinesis, he wrenched jagged shards of stone upward in a burst of makeshift spikes. The lunging gator impaled itself mid-charge, its roar cutting short into a gurgle as blood sprayed. It collapsed to the ground, dead.

The one from the water slammed into him, but Jayden met its charge head-on. He let it bite his arm, then grinned as poison dripped from his claws into its gums. The toxin worked instantly, veins darkening under the beast's scales, its thrashing slowing as paralysis spread.

Jayden pulled his arm free with a savage rip, then drove both claws into its skull, splitting it open like rotten fruit.

THUD.

The gator collapsed under him, lifeless.

Silence.

The clearing reeked of blood and wet earth. Beast corpses littered the ground, their blood pooling and staining the soil dark.

Jayden stood in the middle of it all, chest rising with steady breaths. His claws gleamed crimson, dripping with the lives he'd just claimed.

The system chimed in his mind.

[+300 Exp received]

[10 Beast Crystals has been added to inventory]

[Congratulations, you have leveled up]

[+2 stat points has been added to all stats]

[Ep: 310 330]

[Hp: 650 700]

Jayden exhaled, retracting his claws with a metallic hiss. His grin softened into something calmer, though his golden eyes still glowed faintly with that predator's edge.

He turned his gaze to the lake, its surface once again calm, reflecting the golden sun above. Then he looked down at the corpses sprawled around him.

Once again, he had dominated as the ultimate, unstoppable predator.