The Nemean Lion walked into the clearing like it owned everything the light touched.
Its fur was a deep, burnished gold, each strand catching the filtered light coming through the canopy and throwing it back warmer than it had arrived.
Its eyes glowed, the color a rich, molten amber that held its own light independent of anything around it.
And they could tell... it was not fully grown.
That was the thought that lodged in Lukas's mind and refused to leave, because a fully grown Nemean Lion was an S-rank beast.
This one, this young, not-yet-adult lion that was taking its time walking towards them, was A-rank.
Nemean Lions were regarded as one of the most dangerous Awakener-level beasts on the First Floor.
Veteran hunters avoided them. Guilds with A-rank members planned carefully before engaging one. The stories about them were not exaggerated.
Lukas knew all of this, and so did Melody.
Neither of them moved.
