Chapter 15 — Unclaimed in Paradise*
The tiger's body crackled with yellow lightning. Then both of them moved. At the same time.
Arin pushed off the ground. The tiger disappeared. A flash of white and yellow crossed his vision.
Arin swung his blood sword. Clang! The tiger's claws collided with the blade. The force nearly ripped the sword from his hand.
Arin's feet slid backward. His arms trembled. "So fast..." He barely had time to think before the tiger twisted its body. Its hind leg slammed into his chest.
Bang! Arin was sent flying. He crashed through several bushes before hitting the ground. Pain spread through his ribs. He coughed. Blood stained his lips.
The tiger landed gracefully. It didn't rush him. It watched.
Arin slowly pushed himself up. His body was already recovering. His high Vitality allowed him to endure injuries that would have crippled an ordinary human. But endurance didn't mean invincibility.
That strike had hurt. Badly.
Arin wiped the blood from his mouth. "You're strong." The tiger stared at him. There was no response. Only a low growl.
Arin tightened his grip on the blood sword. His mind was becoming increasingly agitated. Bloodthirsty was working. His physical strength had increased. His reactions had sharpened. But the price was becoming obvious.
The urge to kill was getting louder. His thoughts were becoming less orderly. Part of him wanted to rush forward and tear the tiger apart. Another part of him knew that doing so blindly would get him killed.
Arin clenched his teeth. "Think." He forced himself to breathe. "Inhale." His chest rose. "Exhale." The bloodlust didn't disappear. But it became quieter.
Enough. That was all he needed.
The tiger suddenly vanished. Arin's eyes widened. He moved. Too slow. A claw struck his side. Blood sprayed.
Arin gritted his teeth and twisted with the impact. Instead of being thrown away, he grabbed the tiger's foreleg. The tiger's eyes widened slightly. Arin pulled.
At the same time, he condensed blood into the sword. The crimson blade elongated. The tiger twisted violently. Its claws tore across Arin's chest. Four deep wounds opened.
Pain nearly broke his concentration. But Arin didn't release it. "Got you." He swung.
The tiger narrowly avoided the blade. Arin's attack cut through several strands of its fur instead. The tiger landed several meters away. It looked at the blood on its fur. Then back at Arin.
Its eyes became colder.
Arin's breathing grew heavier. _This was bad._ The tiger was simply too fast. His Strength could contend with it. His Vitality allowed him to endure its attacks. Beast Spirit helped him read its movements. But his Agility was still lacking.
If this continued... He would eventually make one mistake too many.
The tiger lowered its body. Yellow lightning crawled across its limbs. Arin raised his sword. "Come."
The tiger exploded forward. Lightning flashed. Arin swung. The tiger changed direction in mid-movement.
Beast Spirit reacted. Arin saw it. A shift in the shoulder. A change in balance. The tiger wasn't attacking from the front. It was going around him.
Arin turned. Too late. The tiger's paw slammed into his back. Arin crashed into the ground. The blood sword flew from his hand.
Before he could stand, the tiger was above him. Its jaws opened. Arin's pupils contracted. He thrust his hand upward.
Blood erupted from his palm. A crimson barrier formed between them. BOOM! The tiger's claws struck the barrier. Cracks spread across it instantly.
Arin's eyes widened. "Too strong!" The barrier shattered. The tiger's claws descended.
Arin rolled. The claws tore through the ground. He kicked upward. The tiger was pushed back. Arin immediately recovered his sword.
His breathing was ragged. His chest and back were covered in blood. Bloodthirsty was becoming harder to control. The world around him seemed tinted red. His heart hammered. His thoughts screamed for violence.
_Kill it. Kill it. Kill it._
Arin's fingers tightened around the sword. "No." He forced his mind back into place. "I'm not a beast."
The tiger charged again. This time Arin didn't meet it head-on. He ran. The tiger followed. Arin moved between the trees. Branches snapped behind him.
The tiger was faster. Much faster. But Arin had something it didn't. Preparation. He had been fighting for three weeks. He knew how to survive.
He didn't need to outrun it. He needed to create an opening.
Arin suddenly stopped. The tiger's eyes sharpened. It leaped. Arin jumped sideways. The tiger passed him. Arin turned. Blood surged from the sword. The blade expanded.
Crimson energy gathered around it. The tiger twisted in midair. Arin swung. A massive crescent of blood tore through the air.
The tiger raised its foreleg. The attack struck. Blood exploded. The tiger's body was thrown sideways. It landed heavily.
Arin froze. For a moment, neither moved. Then the tiger slowly stood. Blood poured from its injured limb. Its foreleg had been severely cut.
Arin stared. He had finally landed a serious attack. But he hadn't killed it.
The tiger looked down at its wounded limb. Then suddenly— Its expression changed.
Arin noticed. The tiger wasn't looking at him anymore. It was looking deeper into Paradise. Its ears flattened. Its body became tense.
The intelligent beast that had been calmly hunting him moments ago suddenly looked... Afraid.
Arin's expression changed. "What are you looking at?"
The tiger didn't answer. It took one step backward. Then another. Arin watched carefully. Something had changed. He couldn't sense it through Blood Qi Sense. There was no obvious blood qi. No beast appeared. Nothing moved.
Yet the tiger's instincts were screaming at it.
Arin slowly turned his head toward the deeper part of Paradise. The gentle breeze continued. The Spirit Trees stood peacefully in the distance. The Vitality Qi remained thick throughout the air. Everything looked calm.
Too calm.
The tiger suddenly turned around. And ran.
Arin's eyes widened. It wasn't retreating because of its injury. It was fleeing. The tiger disappeared deeper into Paradise without looking back.
Arin remained where he stood. His blood sword slowly lowered. He didn't chase. For once, his instincts told him not to.
His breathing gradually returned to normal. The bloodlust inside his mind began to fade. Arin looked toward the direction the tiger had disappeared.
"What could possibly scare a beast like that?"
He didn't know. And that uncertainty bothered him more than the fight. The tiger had been intelligent. Strong. Territorial. It had clearly considered him prey. Yet something deeper in Paradise had made it abandon both its territory and its wounded prey.
Arin looked around. The peaceful garden-like land suddenly felt different. Beautiful. Quiet. But no longer harmless.
He glanced down at his wounds. Blood continued dripping from his body. His high Vitality was already repairing the damage, but slowly.
Arin exhaled. "I need somewhere to recover." His eyes moved toward the nearest Spirit Tree. Its branches were thick. Its leaves were unusually green. And several strange pinkish fruits hung from them.
Arin stared at the fruit. His stomach growled. He almost laughed. "Of course you're hungry now."
He walked toward the tree. But this time, he didn't relax. His eyes remained on the deeper Paradise Realm.
Whatever had frightened the tiger... Arin had no intention of meeting it yet.
First, he needed to survive. Then he would become stronger. Only after that would he find out what was waiting deeper inside this strange paradise.