Lunar Legacy: Rise Of The Beastlord
Chapter 140: Saber-tooth Flare

Chapter 140: Saber-tooth Flare

Morning sunlight leaked through the blinds of Jayden’s room, dust particles dancing lazily in golden shafts as he zipped up his black hoodie and put on his sneakers. The memory of the previous night with Penelope still lingering in his mind.

He cracked his neck, grabbed his holotab and left the house without a word.

His destination: the outskirts of Jade City, where the wilder stretch of forest began. Deep enough to be unregulated, but not so deep as to be suicide. His goal? More beast corpses. Which would get him more credits. And eventually bring him to his main goal... The premium hoverbike.

He just needed 20 E-Rank and 7 D-Rank beast corpses to reach his goal. And he was already close to getting it.

When Jayden arrived at Jade city’s outskirts, the forest welcomed him with chirping birds, cracking twigs, and a crisp breeze. Jayden crouched on a high branch, invisible, silent. His breath was steady.

His golden eyes shimmered faintly under his hood as he spotted his first target... a group of Tremor Gators sunbathing by a shallow riverbed, their scaly hides cracked and dry. E-rank. Nothing special. But they’d do.

Jayden leapt silently, the wind hissing past his ears. He equipped the dagger and activated Dash.

FLASH.

A blur of motion. The first gator didn’t even react. Jayden’s blade sliced through its neck with a clean shnk. The others turned... but they were too late. He was already behind the second one, piercing its underbelly with a savage twist.

Blood painted the river crimson.

Jayden leapt again

SWISH.

Another kill.

And another. And another.

Soon, five tremor gators laid dead beneath him.

Jayden exhaled, stepping away from the twitching bodies. "Too easy." he muttered before putting them into his inventory.

The next few hours were a blur of motion and adrenaline. He became a ghost in the forest, zipping between trees and shadows. His blade and claws whispered death to 25 F-rank beasts, 20 E-ranks and 10 D-Ranks... Howlers, Gators, Shadow Rats, even a lone Wolverine Stalker who thought it was the predator.

Jayden proved it wrong with a single upward slash across its jaw and a thrust through its eye.

Each body he claimed, he stored the E-rank and D-Rank corpses into his inventory with swift gestures. The others he left behind. He had what he needed now... at least, enough to meet the restaurant chef’s demand.

But he wasn’t done hunting.

Jayden did a few stretches, preparing to go for another round of endless massacre.

Then... he heard it.

A thud.

Another.

And another.

The trees ahead shook. Birds scattered. And then from the thicket, it emerged... an enormous, broad-shouldered beast that moved on all fours. It had dark obsidian fur, long muscular arms dragging across the dirt, and cracked stone armor lining its knuckles, shoulders, and spine like jagged tectonic plates.

Its amber eyes glowed with molten hate.

And as it slammed a boulder-sized fist into the ground... the earth responded.

A ripple tore through the soil, lifting rocks and roots in a violent tremor.

Jayden barely leapt aside as the ground exploded beneath him, showering him with dirt and debris. He activated dragon eye mid-air, quickly inspecting the beast’s info.

_______

*Name: Geogrim

*Rank: E

*Ability: Earth manipulation

*Hp: 250/250

_______

Jayden landed on a tree branch, crouched and wide-eyed. "An elemental beast..."

[Be careful!] Luna chirped. [Its physical strength is already impressive, but that earth manipulation gives it a major battlefield advantage]

Jayden smirked, drawing both dagger and claw. "Exactly the challenge I’ve been waiting for."

He launched forward.

The ape turned with a roar, smashing the ground again. A wall of rock erupted between them, but Jayden was faster. He blinked above it mid-Dash, flipping over the wall and diving downward.

He aimed a dagger for the beast’s exposed shoulder... but the ape twisted, catching Jayden’s blade with its bare palm. Cracks ran across its knuckles, but it didn’t flinch.

Then it lifted Jayden an slammed him into the ground.

The impact knocked the air out of Jayden’s lungs. Dirt erupted in a mushroom cloud. He rolled just in time to avoid a fist the size of a boulder crushing his ribcage.

Jayden gritted his teeth. This was no ordinary E-Rank.

The Geogrim roared again and slammed both fists into the ground. This time, jagged stone spears launched from the earth, tracking Jayden’s movement like heat-seeking arrows.

He sprinted, zigzagging through the spires, dodging, leaping, vaulting over roots. With every dash, he used the terrain to gain momentum. The beast was fast, but not faster than Jayden.

He flipped over another stone spike and drove his dagger into the beast’s upper back, piercing through fur and flesh.

The ape howled in fury.

Jayden ripped the blade out, flipped off its back, landed, and slashed across its Achilles tendon with his claws.

The beast buckled.

It retaliated, sweeping an arm. Jayden was flung through the air, crashing into a tree trunk.

The trunk snapped in two as Jayden back slammed into it. He had used partial transformation to morph his bones into adamantine just before the impact.

Jayden stood up, unhurt and unscathed. Then he dashed again. This time, he didn’t aim for the kill.. he went for its eyes.

The Geogrim raised an earthen shield from its forearm, but Jayden expected that. He used the shield, running up it and flipping over its head. With a twist in midair, he stabbed downward.

Both dagger and knuckleclaws into the beast’s neck.

The beast’s roar died in its throat.

A heavy, shuddering collapse followed.

Jayden stood over it, panting, blade and claw dripping with blood and mud. His cloak fluttered as the dust settled.

[+30 exp received]

[Requirements has been met]

[Analysing compatibility...]

[Host is compatible with available beast energy]

[Would you like to absorb the E-Rank Geogrim’s energy?]

[Yes] [No]

Jayden approached the corpse, heart pounding in excitement. He was going to get his first elemental ability. That itself was a great achievement that would make him a powerhouse instantly.

He stretched his hand, about to absorb the beast’s energy when—

ROOOAAARRRR!!!

A roar so loud it shook nearby trees.

Jayden’s body froze.

Then he saw it.

Walking like a god of flame... ten feet tall, golden fur like molten lava, a mane of fire that danced like angry serpents, and two long, curved saber fangs gleaming under the sun.

Its eyes burned with red rage. Its tail swept the ground with smoke.

It stepped into the clearing, flames rippling from its body. And it growled, expressing dominance and demanding submission like the king it was.

Jayden recognised the beast instantly. It was a saber-toothed flare. One of the most formidable type of beasts on the planet.