CHAPTER 116: ONE HELL OF A PUPPY

At first glance, the small puppy sleeping at the doorstep seemed harmless, innocent, even. Its body was curled up into a fluffy ball, tail twitching slightly with every soft snore it released. For a second, Alex almost laughed. This was the terrifying behemoth the system warned him about?

Then the air grew cold.

Without warning, a pulse of mana rippled out from the creature. The puppy’s body began to twitch, its soft form convulsing and expanding at an unnatural speed. Bones cracked. Flesh warped. And within seconds, the adorable little ball of fur was gone.

In its place stood a monstrous canine, several feet tall and easily the size of a full-grown horse. Its body had transformed into something grotesque, fur now coarse and shadowy, eyes glowing with a deep crimson glare.

But the most striking, terrifying feature was its head: grotesquely oversized, grotesquely wide, and on its upper lip jutted a single enormous fang, thick and curved, descending all the way down past its chin like a hanging dagger of bone. It dripped with saliva, which hissed as it hit the ground like acid on stone.

The system hadn’t been joking. This thing was a behemoth.

The beast locked eyes with Alex, growled, a low, guttural sound that rumbled through the earth, and began to stalk forward, each heavy pawfall leaving impressions in the soil.

Alex instinctively took a step back. His mouth felt dry. His breath quickened.

He gulped. "Okay... now you look like a behemoth."

Before he could react, before he could think to reach into his inventory or activate any of his gear, the creature moved. With a speed that defied its massive size, it let out a thunderous growl and lunged forward in a blur of fur, muscle, and fangs.

Alex’s instincts screamed.

He raised his hand and immediately activated Pinpoint Inflicting, focusing his mana through the skill and aiming it directly at the beast’s nerves. A sharp pulse of energy darted from his fingers toward the creature’s advancing form.

But, nothing.

The dog didn’t so much as flinch. It kept charging like a tank, unaffected, eyes locked on its prey.

Alex’s heart dropped.

"It didn’t work?" he gasped, staggering backward. "It didn’t even register it."

The realization struck him hard, his skill level was too low. The beast’s resistance to mana techniques must be high, far beyond what he had anticipated. He had no time to question it further.

He pivoted instantly and activated Mana Shield, casting the invisible protective barrier over his body just as the creature barreled into him.

The impact was brutal.

The behemoth slammed into Alex in a brutal, head-on collision, its sheer size and unstoppable momentum launching him off his feet and hurling him backward like a ragdoll caught in a storm. He hit the ground hard, skidding across the dirt with the impact rattling his bones and knocking the air clean out of his lungs.

In the same motion, its jagged fang slammed into his left shoulder, puncturing through the shield with a bone-crunching force.

Alex slammed into the ground with a heavy thud, the impact jarring every bone in his body. He clenched his teeth, bracing for the worst, but somehow, the mana shield had held.

Barely. It flickered weakly around him, threads of light unraveling like a dying spark. He fully expected to see his arm torn open, maybe even hanging on by a thread, but to his surprise, everything was still in one piece.

Bruised. Burning. But intact. The pain was sharp and searing, shooting through him like a red-hot spike, but it didn’t cripple him. The fang had come close, far too close, but it hadn’t broken through. Not yet.

Still, the massive dog wasn’t done. It growled again and bit down a second time, more violently, more aggressively.

This time, Alex felt the difference.

A sharp, echoing crack split the air as his Mana Shield gave out entirely, the barrier collapsing with a burst of raw energy. Fragments of residual mana scattered in every direction like shattered glass, glowing for a moment before dissolving into the air like mist in the wind. The sudden emptiness where his shield had been hit him just as hard as the sound.

His eyes went wide, heart skipping a beat.

"That’s bad," he muttered, voice tight with rising panic. "That’s very, very bad."

The beast’s hot breath poured over his face. Its fang hovered inches from tearing into his exposed shoulder now. No protection. No barrier. Just raw flesh.

Alex knew if he didn’t act now, the next bite would tear clean through muscle and bone.

Without thinking, he summoned every ounce of focus he had left and reached deep into the well of his abilities. He activated Telekinesis

He poured raw willpower into it, channeling it as a force, a push of thought and energy aimed directly at the monster above him.

Get off!

The force of the push hit the beast like an explosion, slamming into its massive frame with a burst of raw energy. It staggered—not much, just a slight hitch in its movement—as it blinked in confusion and instinctively stepped back half a foot.

But that half foot was all Alex needed.

With a grimace, he clenched his jaw, twisted his hips, and forced his body into a desperate roll to the side. Pain flared through him like fire licking across raw nerves, but he didn’t stop. He couldn’t. That tiny opening was the only chance he had to escape and he took it without hesitation.

The beast’s fang sank into empty ground instead of his shoulder, ripping a chunk of soil and stone from the floor. Alex pulled himself up, panting, one hand clutching his bruised shoulder as he scrambled to gain some distance.

Dust filled the air around him. The behemoth growled in frustration and turned, glaring at Alex with renewed fury.

Alex backed up further, heart hammering in his chest, every instinct screaming at him to run.

"Okay..." he muttered to himself, "That’s one hell of a puppy."