Long before the first ray of morning broke, Reyansh's eyes snapped open.
He hadn't slept a single wink. All night, he had sat like a statue wedged between the massive roots of that alien tree, clutching a crudely sharpened wooden spear to his chest. Every few seconds, his eyes had frantically scanned the pitch-black perimeter.
But now, the forest was shifting.
The blood-curdling screeches of the night were slowly fading, and the silver sky bleeding through the canopy was turning a pale, luminous blue. Dawn was breaking.
Reyansh slowly exhaled a long, trembling breath.
His body was completely wrecked. Sitting rigid in the exact same position for hours had locked up his spine, and a grim cocktail of dried sweat and alien dirt coated his legs.
But the worst part wasn't the stiffness.
It was the hunger.
His stomach felt completely hollow, like a black hole yawning inside his gut. It felt as if some massive parasite had taken up residence in his core, relentlessly draining his remaining reserves.
Reyansh looked down at his hand.
The small cut he had deliberately inflicted on his palm yesterday had almost completely vanished, replaced by nothing but a faint, faded pink line.
This Cellular Healing ability is absolutely insane, he muttered, his voice raspy.
But the miracle came with a bitter truth: if he wanted to survive in this hellhole, he needed fuel. A lot of it. Foraging for disgusting bugs wasn't going to cut it anymore. He needed calorie-dense, raw meat.
Gritting his teeth against the popping of his stiffened joints, Reyansh forced himself up. He gripped his makeshift spear and ventured cautiously into the deeper thickets of the jungle.
The morning forest was a stark contrast to the nocturnal nightmare.
The leaves of foreign flora emitted a faint, bioluminescent glow. Strange flowers bloomed and closed in slow, rhythmic pulses, while swarms of glowing white insects drifted through the distant air like embers.
But today, Reyansh didn't give a damn about the alien scenery.
His hollow, predatory eyes were locked onto a single objective.
Prey.
He hadn't walked far when his gaze locked onto the damp soil.
His boots froze.
Deep, dark crimson stains marred the earth.
Blood.
Reyansh immediately dropped to one knee, dipping a finger into the dirt.
It was still slightly warm.
Sticky.
Fresh.
His heart instantly began hammering against his ribs. In a volatile ecosystem like this, fresh blood could only mean two things: either a massive predator was tracking nearby, or a fresh kill had just occurred.
Both scenarios meant death if he blundered in blindly.
Reyansh hesitated for a fraction of a second, his mind racing.
Then, driven by the raw desperation of his starving stomach, he began tracking the crimson trail.
Every step became a calculated gamble. He meticulously avoided dry leaves, distributing his weight like a shadow. Holding the wooden spear tightly with both hands, he pressed forward.
The canopy thickened, weaving together so tightly that the morning light failed to pierce the gloom below.
The blood trail grew more pronounced, accompanied by deep gouges and jagged scratches on the bark of surrounding trees—as if a heavy, thrashing carcass had been forcefully dragged through the brush.
Reyansh's throat went completely dry.
There was no turning back now; his hunger was a physical force shoving him forward.
A few minutes later, a sound broke the silence.
The sickening sound of tearing flesh.
The wet, rhythmic crunch of bones snapping and raw meat being violently chewed.
Reyansh instantly ducked behind the trunk of a massive, blackened tree.
He held his breath, leaning out just enough to peer into the clearing.
What he saw made his breath catch instantly.
Squatting over a carcass was a feline beast roughly the size of a small Bengal tiger.
Its muscular frame was covered in coarse, needle-sharp fur of a deep, midnight blue, accented by jagged black markings along its spine.
Protruding from its upper jaw were two massive, saber-like fangs that emitted a faint, eerie blue luminescence.
A Blue Fang Cat.
It was savagely tearing into the corpse of another alien creature, painting the clearing in gore.
But as Reyansh scrutinized the predator, he noticed something crucial.
The beast was severely wounded.
A ragged, gaping gash tore across its flank, weeping dark blood onto the dirt.
Furthermore, its left hind leg was bent at an unnatural, mangled angle, forcing the creature to shift its weight awkwardly as it ate.
Reyansh's breathing turned heavy.
His brain, hyper-charged by the crisis, began running calculations like a processor.
It's injured. That means its speed is compromised, and its reactions will be delayed.
Even compromised, the apex predator looked infinitely more lethal than a regular human.
Reyansh decided the risk was too high.
He began to slowly, methodically step backward, withdrawing into the shadows—
Snap!
A dry twig splintered sharply beneath his heel.
The entire forest seemed to go dead silent for a terrifying second.
The Blue Fang Cat stopped chewing.
Slowly, deliberately, the gore-covered snout of the apex predator turned directly toward the black tree trunk.
Its glowing blue, slit-pupil eyes locked dead onto Reyansh.
Reyansh's heart forgot how to beat.
A suffocating, deathly silence stretched between them.
Then—
Grrrrrr...
A low, guttural vibration rattled from the beast's throat, so deep it felt like the ground beneath Reyansh's feet was vibrating.
Reyansh instinctively took a desperate step back.
The very next millisecond—
Thud!
The Blue Fang Cat exploded forward like a coiled spring.
"You bastard—!"
Reyansh threw himself to the right, diving like a madman.
The apex predator cut through the air precisely where his head had been a moment prior, slamming violently into the massive tree behind him.
Crash!
The impact shuddered through the colossal trunk, sending a shower of dead leaves raining down.
Reyansh scrambled up, his eyes wide with shock.
This thing is crippled and it's still that fast?!
He didn't even have time to process the thought.
The beast pivoted with terrifying agility, facing him once more.
Its movements were slightly staggered now—the pressure on its mangled hind leg was taking its toll—but its eyes were fixed on him with absolute, homicidal intent.
Reyansh brought his wooden spear up, his hands shaking violently as he assumed a defensive stance.
The cat let out a sharp hiss and lunged again.
Reyansh drove the spear forward with every ounce of his remaining strength, aiming for the throat.
But in mid-air, the beast contorted its torso with predatory instinct.
The wooden tip grazed uselessly through its coarse fur.
The next instant—
Slash!
Razor-sharp claws raked across Reyansh's torso.
"Aaaargh!"
His t-shirt shredded instantly as three deep gashes opened across his chest, blood spurting from the wounds.
The force of the strike sent Reyansh crashing backward onto the dirt.
The wind was completely knocked out of him.
The agony was so sharp, so blinding, that a curtain of absolute darkness threatened to pull over his vision.
But the Blue Fang Cat wasn't giving him breathing room.
Spurred by the metallic scent of fresh human blood, it advanced, jaws unhinging as it lunged straight for his throat.
In a frantic reflex, Reyansh scooped up a fistful of loose, moist soil and hurled it directly into the beast's face.
Puff!
The dirt hit dead center.
The cat shrieked, backing away abruptly as it clawed frantically at its own eyes, growling in blinded fury.
It worked!
Groaning through the agony in his chest, Reyansh forced himself onto his feet and bolted in the opposite direction.
His adrenaline was redlining, the blood from his chest soaking through his clothes.
The heavy, staggered thuds of the beast echoed right behind him.
Even blinded, its tracking instincts were impeccable.
As he ran, Reyansh spotted a thick, weathered branch lying on the forest floor.
He scooped it up, spun on his heel, and swung it like a baseball bat with absolute desperation.
Crack!
The impact split the heavy branch clean in two against the cat's skull.
But the beast barely flinched.
It shook its head, its eyes clearing, and snarled with renewed malice.
"Are you kidding me?!" Reyansh screamed in sheer helplessness.
The beast lunged again, its claws sweeping horizontally.
Reyansh dropped flat onto the dirt, the wind from the strike whistling directly over his hair.
But he failed to account for the beast's tail.
An instant later, the long, whip-like appendage struck him squarely in the midsection like a steel rod.
Thud!
Reyansh was launched through the air like a ragdoll, crashing face-first into the soil several yards away.
He hacked up a thick splatter of blood, his ribs screaming in agony.
His breath came in ragged, broken gasps.
The Blue Fang Cat stalked toward him slowly, savoring the impending kill.
Reyansh realized the brutal reality: in a conventional clash of strength, he stood absolutely zero chance against this monster.
None.
His mind fired at absolute capacity, sorting through his environment.
The tree... the dirt... the spear... its wound... the crippled leg!
His eyes locked onto the beast's mangled hind leg.
It couldn't generate uniform power.
When it jumped, it deliberately avoided putting pressure on that limb.
The Blue Fang Cat coiled its muscles for the final, fatal pounce.
This time, Reyansh didn't run.
He stood his ground, waiting for the final millisecond.
Just as the beast launched itself into the air, closing the distance, Reyansh pivoted violently to his right.
Mid-air, the predator realized the deception and attempted to adjust its trajectory.
But to do that, it needed to leverage its left hind leg.
The mangled limb buckled under the sudden shifting force.
Thud!
Losing its balance entirely, the beast crashed awkwardly side-first, sliding heavily across the moist dirt.
Now or never!
Without wasting a single microsecond, Reyansh threw himself onto the thrashing predator like a wild animal.
He yanked the old, blunted pocket knife from his pocket and drove it with all his might into the side of its thick neck.
Click!
Reyansh's face drained of color.
The blade didn't penetrate.
The beast's hide was like vulcanized leather armor; the dull metal merely pricked the surface.
"What kind of skin is this?!"
The beast thrashed violently, swinging a heavy forepaw blindly backward.
The claws caught Reyansh squarely on the shoulder.
Slash!
Flesh tore open, a jet of crimson staining the blue fur.
Reyansh shrieked in absolute agony, but he didn't unlock his grip.
He was staring death in the face, and a dying man has nothing left to fear.
As the beast attempted to roll and push itself up, Reyansh reached down, grabbed the mangled hind leg, and twisted it in the opposite direction with the entire weight of his body.
CRACK!
The sickening sound of fracturing bone echoed through the clearing.
The beast let out a pathetic, high-pitched whimper, its head snapping back toward the canopy in sheer agony.
And at that exact microsecond—
With the beast's face exposed toward the sky, Reyansh drove the blunted pocket knife straight into its large, glowing blue eye.
Squelch!
The blade sunk deep, bypassing the armored hide and piercing straight through the socket into the brain cavity.
The Blue Fang Cat went into violent convulsions.
Its massive frame thrashed erratically, kicking up clouds of dirt and tearing up the earth.
Reyansh threw his entire body weight onto the handle, pinning the blade deep inside the socket, refusing to let go.
Then—
Snap.
The resistance suddenly vanished from his grip.
He looked down.
The pocket knife had snapped at the hilt, leaving the blade completely buried inside the creature's skull.
But it was already over.
The thrashing of the apex predator gradually slowed down.
The massive, midnight-blue body gave one final, violent shudder—
—and then went entirely limp.
Thud.
The forest plunged back into a deathly, suffocating silence.
Reyansh collapsed onto the dirt beside the massive carcass, his chest heaving violently as he fought for oxygen.
He was entirely drenched in a mix of dirt, sweat, and crimson blood.
The gashes on his chest burned like liquid fire.
His shoulder felt torn to shreds.
Every breath felt like a knife twisting in his ribs.
But against all odds...
he was alive.
Suddenly, that same cold, mechanical voice resonated directly inside his mind.
Blue Fang Cat terminated.
Processing mutation compatibility...