Metallic Rogue

Fight Or Flight

Jayden pulled out his hands from a beasts neck as it dropped to the ground dead.

This was his second beast he had killed since the beginning of his hunt one hour ago.

He had been fighting this particular beast for over twenty minutes but found it hard to win. It was the Evolved tier creature of the Featherless Chicken Draven had fought the first time. The system had given him the name of the beast and he found out that that was the beasts species name.

He was unable to oneshot the beast like he did with the Unholy Reptilian Predator due to a series of mishaps. The Unholy Reptilian Predator was not prepared for an ambush and it was in a weakened state which lead its instant death, but the Featherless Chicken he just killed could not be ambushed because it constantly turned it's head around and it was at its peak.

Jayden now knew what his power level was when compared to beasts.

He could say he could defeat an Evolved Tier beast at the Low Stage.

He rummaged through the beasts body and pulled out the Energy Orb from the beast. The Energy Orb suddenly disappeared in a whirlpool of black energy.

[New Item Stored in the Void Space]

[Evolved Tier Crystal of Featherless Chicken]

Jayden smiled to himself and began his search for another beast. The void space could not just be used to camp him, but could be used as a storage space also.

"This one seems to be able to control that thing." Jayden said.

[You mean the technique it used to boost its speed drastically?]

"Yes that. The one Draven fought with could not control it and crashed into a tree without being able to stop itself in time therefore killing itself. Ha, it was hilarious, but Draven's reaction was more funny." Jayden chuckled as he continued walking.

Draven had killed two more beasts while Jayden was fighting. In the process Nahshon had retrieved another little but important information.

Between the tiers of beasts, there was another ranking between them. They were the Low Stage, Middle Stage, High Stage and Peak Stage.

Most beast only went through the first three stages and skipped the Peak Stage. There was only a little number of beasts that reached the Peak Stage before advancing to the next tier, though they were slow to evolve, they were stronger than their fellow tier beasts of the same tier.

Inspecting Draven again he saw the information shown changed.

[Name: Dark Coal Panther]

[Tier: Basic]

[Stage: Middle]

[Healthy]

"That means Draven can defeat a Middle Stage Intermediate Tier beast in a one on one fight."

[Yes]

"And that is just what I'll give him." Jayden said with a wicked smile on his face.

Draven seemed to have sensed this and slowly backed away. Jayden didn't let this happen and began leading Draven to the nearest Intermediate Tier beast he saw on the map which had been updated with the retrieved information.

They reached a cave that was well hidden behind a dense canopy of trees.

The cave gave off an eerie feeling that made Draven a bit scared, Jayden could withstand the pressure because he himself was a like a beast with a more violent aura of his own, it was something everyone learnt after facing countless dangers. They developed something that was called in different ways, some called it Killing Intent, Hunter's Domain, Death Aura and so on.

Jayden liked to call it Killing Intent, as it was what he thought described the pressure better.

He nudged Draven slightly, telling him to move. Draven was at loss for what to do, to him Jayden was trying to kill him for no reason.

For a second, Jayden thought he saw a pleading expression on his face and smiled.

"I know you're scared buddy, but you need to learn to face dangers, one way or another you'll eventually meet with an existence stronger than you and it's either fight or flight, and I doubt you'll be faster than them to take flight as an option. So it's better you outwit them with your brains because you're smarter than most beasts I've encountered." Jayden paused before frowning. "Are you even understanding what I'm saying?"

Jayden just gave the best speech he could fish out from his brain just for it to end up on deaf ears.

"I should really stop talking to him, or people will think I'm crazy."

[There's no need to worry, he understood some words you said]

Draven then began to slowly walk into the cave, he might not understand what his mater had just said, but the way he spoke the words was filled with care which meant that he truly cared for him. They had met a couple of hours ago and had already forged a strong bond.

After walking a few meters, Draven looked back at Jayden before the air around him suddenly turn cold. At the corner of his eyes, Jayden saw something move, he looked to his side but didn't find anything so he brushed it off as nothing serious.

Draven crouched and leaped into the darkness of the cave, after a minute, Jayden followed from a close distance to not alert Draven.

[You easily trusted him, why?]

"Huh... It'll be a hassle to worry about him, so I just let him be, besides, he can't hurt me." Jayden said and shrugged.

[He can't hurt you?]

[Have you seen your face?]

"No, why." Jayden said while touching his face.

[The injuries he dealt to you before he became your Rogue Subordinate were minimal, but it could have been critical if he attacked a vital part of your body and he has gotten stronger too]

"I don't feel anything off about him. I doubt he'll turn on me." Jayden replied.

[Very well then]

He walked at a steady pace until he got to a wide area inside the cave, he saw several sacks filled with a liquid with tiny things moving inside them, they were suspended mid-air by sticky webs.

He looked ahead and saw Draven growling at a corner of the cave. In that corner was a set of four pairs of glowing red eyes, the eyes slowly moved forward to reveal a three foot tall spider. It's eight legs looked more like sharp spears as they dug into the ground as it walked.

It screeched loudly to enforce it superiority to Draven, but Draven didn't budge, instead he took a step forward towards a rock that cast a large shadow over a wide area of the cave and what happened next shocked even Jayden.....

....Draven disappeared.