Eryon stood in a low stance, feet slightly apart for balance, his hands gripping his spear tightly—it felt heavier than before. His gaze locked onto the beast before him—a giant cheetah, its muscular body and razor-sharp eyes radiating a killer's instinct.
Cold blood flowed through Eryon's veins, but he didn't flinch. Just by meeting the creature's eyes, he could feel a wave of dominance rolling off of it, like a field of gravity trying to drag his knees to the ground.
The cheetah growled softly, barely audible beneath the thunder of the waterfall, but it was enough to make every muscle in Eryon's body tense. His breathing stayed measured, his heartbeat steady.
Then, he activated his ability.
[Berserk Activated: All stats doubled]
[Risk: Extreme fatigue if sustained too long]
In an instant, his body felt lighter. His muscles pulsed with renewed power, his vision sharpened, and the world seemed to slow around him.
Without hesitation, Eryon drove his foot into the ground and shot forward. His spear thrust straight ahead, aiming for the cheetah's heart.
But this predator was no ordinary beast.
With lightning speed, the cheetah dodged to the side. Its massive claw swung forward in retaliation, sweeping horizontally with deadly intent.
Eryon's reflexes kicked in. He twisted his spear and raised the shaft to block. A loud clang rang out as claw met metal—sparks flew from the impact, and Eryon was forced back three steps, his knees bending slightly to absorb the blow.
'Okay,' he thought. 'This thing is fast, strong, and it learns with every move. But I'm no ordinary fighter.'
His eyes never left the cheetah, which was now circling slowly, keeping its distance, reading him like a chess player studies the board.
'Its brain is primitive, but its reflexes and muscles operate almost like response-based AI,' Eryon analyzed. 'If I keep attacking head-on, it'll win with sheer speed. But… every system, even a natural one, can be disrupted if its pattern is broken.'
He scanned the terrain.
The cave ceiling dipped low in places, with fragile stalactites hanging down. The ground was slick from waterfall spray.
A plan began to form.
Eryon started moving left, slowly, as if to circle the beast. The cheetah followed, its body low, muscles taut like coiled springs.
Then Eryon feinted.
He lunged with a sharp thrust toward the cheetah's leg—but it was just a bluff. With a sudden shift in momentum, he struck the ground beneath its claws, sending shards of rock and splashes of water flying toward its eyes.
The creature flinched—just long enough.
Eryon didn't waste the moment. With a swift, confident motion, he extended his hand toward his opponent.
[Essence Reap 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—aiming precisely at a massive stalactite.
Crackkk!
The stone shattered and dropped with deadly speed.
The cheetah darted backward, trying to avoid it, but didn't fully escape. The chunk of rock slammed into its shoulder, staggering it with a furious snarl.
Without pause, Eryon closed the distance, leaping in and drawing a dagger from behind his back. He struck fast—plunging the blade into the side of the cheetah's neck, right where muscle met tendon, a spot unprotected by bone.
[Critical Hit: 892 damage inflicted]
[Bleeding Applied: -35 HP/sec for 10 seconds]
The cheetah roared in agony, thrashing wildly. One swipe sent Eryon flying back, his back slamming against the stone wall, breath knocked from his lungs.
"I have to end this now, before the backlash from this skill drops me."
Grimacing but determined, he retrieved his long spear, circling around to the cheetah's blind spot. The beast was already swaying, weakened by blood loss and pain.
He leapt, spear raised high—and drove it down with all his weight into the cheetah's back, piercing deep to the bone.
Sssshkk!
[Fatal Hit: Spine ruptured. Target immobilized.]
The cheetah went still. Its massive body toppled to the side, blood pooling in dark puddles across the cave floor. Its final breath was a low exhale… and then, silence.
[You have slain a Primal Cheetah. Gained 134 EXP]
[Congratulations, you've leveled up to Level 2!]
[+2 to all attributes]
Eryon exhaled sharply, his chest rising and falling from the lingering rush of adrenaline. Moments later, a heavy wave of exhaustion washed over him—aches radiated through his limbs, a reminder of Berserk's price.
But it was tolerable. 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 (Grade D)]
[Unique skill Description: A permanent ability that alters the user's biological structure]
[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 morphed into Apex predator's, and can see through mist, light darkness, and track fast-moving targets]
[Bonus Effects: +25% accuracy with ranged attacks | Tracking enabled for high-speed entities]
The moment the system notifications faded, Eryon felt a warm pulse surge through his eyes. It wasn't painful—more like something awakening just behind his retinas.
Light around him seemed to sharpen. Details he hadn't noticed before—fine cracks in the stone, the shimmer on wet leaves—became vivid, as though the world was finally revealing its hidden layers. His vision hadn't fully changed yet… but his irises had darkened slightly, growing more focused, adapting to the wild.
He blinked once—and when his eyes opened, his pupils had narrowed into razor-thin slits, gleaming with an amber sheen like those of an apex predator. A faint, knowing smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
"Are these… the eyes of a predator?"
Eryon smiled in satisfaction—he'd leveled up, and gained a new skill. A D-rank one. Not bad. Not bad at all.
"And there's still that cheetah… and the fruit," he muttered with a smirk, his gaze shifting forward—to where the cheetah's corpse lay, and just beyond it, the golden fruit still gleamed.