A Ranked Beast Appears
After killing the deer and taking its antler as proof, he left the area—and the weight of those hard emotions—behind.
Then he walked back to their meeting point.
He saw Korr waiting for him, and to his surprise, Yue was already there, holding… he narrowed his eyes—a bird's feather.
"Whoa, already finished?" Rex marveled.
She nodded with a smile.
As the sentence ended, Kai emerged, proudly showing a bear's finger, and stood alongside Rex.
A few minutes later, the last to arrive was Shun, holding a rabbit's ear.
"Good, all four of you are here now," Korr said, then turned to Rex.
"Rex, you used your surroundings well and fought bravely, showing great potential.
But… remember not to put yourself in dangerous positions—like when you rolled sideways and threw the dagger, aiming for its heart. That could have gone either way."
Korr's tone was laced with genuine concern.
Rex nodded in understanding. Even he felt he would have died if the deer had been able to move back then.
Next, Korr looked at his cubs and gave them feedback one by one.
He acknowledged Kai's brute strength, and Yue's swiftness and agility, and praised Shun for overcoming his fear.
Korr smiled. "You all did a great job on your first hunt. Now it's time to celebrate with a feast!" He pumped his fist in victory.
He was genuinely happy for the younglings—he had raised them himself.
Everyone shouted with excitement. Soon, they started walking back toward the inner region, heading home.
Korr paused. "You guys wait here. I'll hunt some beasts for our feast," he said, then disappeared into the trees.
As Korr vanished into the forest, Rex glanced around. His gaze halted on an unhappy, almost… angry-looking Kai—an odd contrast to the cheerful mood.
Rex frowned and stepped closer. "What happened, Kai? You look unhappy," he asked seriously.
Kai was usually a happy guy unless something—or someone—hurt his pride.
Just as Rex spoke, the bushes behind Kai rustled.
The next moment…
A beast lunged at Kai from the undergrowth, aiming straight for him.
..!
Rex, who was standing opposite and facing Kai, grabbed his hand and yanked him backward.
The beast landed right where Kai had been a second earlier.
Using the same momentum, Rex sprang forward and delivered a powerful kick square to the beast's face.
Everyone snapped to attention, eyes locking on the attacker.
It was a hound with dark, brownish fur, a single small horn on its head, ribs sticking out from its back, and glowing cyan-blue eyes.
ROAR!
Kai let out a furious roar.
Rex stood between him and the beast, having just kicked it in the face.
He quickly checked its status using [Eye of Tamer].
--
[Name: Swampfang]
[Entity: Beast]
[Species: Mud Hound]
[Bloodline: –]
[Rank: Spirit Rank 1-Star]
[Potential: F]
[Would you like to tame {Swampfang}? - Y/N]
--
"W-Why is a ranked beast here?" Rex asked, voice shaking.
Everyone tensed instantly—ready to lose a limb or two.
Because…
That was the difference in strength when a mortal fought a Spirit-ranked beast.
One could control the mysterious mana.
The other?
Had never even felt it.
Yet, here they were, standing against something unlike anything they'd faced before.
A ranked beast—Spirit Rank 1-Star.
Rex almost missed the system prompt, only to glance back and see it:
A prompt asking if he wanted to tame Swampfang.
Can I tame it just like that? …Whatever.
System, tame the beast.
[Taming in progress...]
Target: {Swampfang}
The hound opened its mouth, forming a water bubble that swelled rapidly until it was the size of a fist.
Then—boom.
It launched the water bubble straight at Rex, the one who had hurt it.
Still distracted from the status screen, Rex failed to dodge.
The projectile slammed into his stomach, knocking him off his feet and hurling him backward into Kai.
Rex gritted his teeth and quickly steadied himself. "Yue, Shun—let's surround it from all four sides!" he ordered.
They had to work as a team. Otherwise...
Yue nodded, slipping behind the beast in a slow, steady arc.
While Shun looked hesitant to follow along…
Rex kept his eyes locked on the hound, not letting it shift its focus elsewhere.
His muscles tensed. Goosebumps rose as—
The hound stared right back.
Its cyan-blue eyes felt too big, too inhuman. Rex quickly averted his gaze, his heart thumping wildly.
For some reason, the hound could feel that Rex was dangerous—It locked onto him—and only him.
"Now!" Rex shouted.
He, Kai, and Yue charged from three directions—
Except...
Shun was gone.
Everyone was too focused on the fight to notice.
The hound's eyes didn't move from Rex.
It slashed with a claw, firing two sharp water blades—one at Rex, the other at Kai.
Both dodged.
But the water claws didn't stop. They continued slicing through the forest, cutting clean through a thick tree—then another, and another.
Whoosh! Whoosh!—the blades screamed through the air.
BAM! BAM!—trees toppled behind them like dominos.
The raw power of the attack staggered their rhythm.
But Yue didn't hesitate. She lunged forward, closing in on the hound, claws bared.
The beast was quick.
At point-blank range, it launched another water bubble.
Yue's claws barely missed its neck by centimeters—
And then the bubble smashed into her chest, sending her flying into a tree.
She slumped to the ground, unconscious.
Shun… was nowhere to be seen.