The air in the Emerald City forest region was thick with the scent of damp earth and pine. Jayden moved silently through the dense undergrowth, his senses dialed to the maximum.
He had chosen this forest first for a reason: he was already the apex predator here. The local ecosystem knew his presence, and the beasts had long learned to fear the shadow that hunted them.
Jayden wanted to exploit that terror. That underlying fear of him would make the beasts far easier to break and subjugate.
He didn't have to search long before he found his first recruit.
Lurking near a cluster of jagged rocks was an E-Rank Lesser Wolverine Stalker. The massive, bear-like creature was busy gnawing on a bone, but the moment Jayden stepped out into the clearing, its head snapped up.
The beast recognized Jayden instantly. Its first instinct wasn't to fight; it was to flee. Beasts below D-Rank didn't dare challenge the silver-haired hunter who had been slaughtering their kind for months.
