He had barely gotten into a sprinting stance when a heavy, muffled thudding reached his ears.
Branches were shoved aside, towering ferns bent out of the way, and in this lush sea of green came a sound without a shape.
Thud. Thud. Each step pounded like a war drum straight into his chest. The three raptors froze, reared upright to pinpoint the source, and the very next second bolted in the opposite direction without looking back. Faced with death, missing a meal wasn't the end of the world.
Luo Yun had the same idea,only he moved even faster than the raptors, throwing himself headlong into the nearby woods. Just before the foliage swallowed him completely, a glimpse out of the corner of his eye caught a massive, savage head crashing through the underbrush, its eyes locking on him as it roared.
"Damn it! Anjanath!!"
That thing was infamous for its bad temper. Huge, thick,skinned, ridiculously territorial,and on top of all that, it could breathe fire. A brute in every sense of the word.
Ignoring the sharp sting of branches whipping against his scales, Luo Yun pushed his legs for everything they had. If Anjanath caught him, he'd end up nothing more than a crunchy fire,roasted snack. With that bite force and digestion, the beast wouldn't think twice about swallowing his hide, bone, and all.
All he could hope for now was that Anjanath wasn't really after him. After all, he'd started running before the raptors and had gotten farther ahead. By that logic, the odds of being chosen as the target were lower…
No such luck. Anjanath locked onto him without hesitation. To it, those petty raptors were nothing but little thieves who nibbled at scraps. Not worth the effort.
But Luo Yun was different. Even as a juvenile, he was a Rathalos,a fire wyvern. To the Anjanath, that made him an invader, a challenger daring to trespass on territory it had marked.
The ground shook with every booming step. Branches snapped, undergrowth shattered, and the monster's roars thundered through the trees, sending a chill crawling over Luo Yun's scales.
The Anjanath plowed forward like a living tank. Everything in its path,trees, vines, whatever,was smashed aside. It carved a brutal trail straight through the dense forest.
Luo Yun, on the other hand, didn't have that kind of brute force. His small body could barrel through ferns, sure, but he had to dodge branches and vines. Every obstacle slowed him just a little more, and with every heartbeat, the gap between him and the Anjanath shrank.
"What do I do? What should I do?!"
Death loomed,literally overhead.
Because of the sun's angle, the Anjanath's shadow already stretched far enough to engulf him. Were it not for his speed,boost ability steadily pushing him forward, he'd have been swallowed whole already.
But even that had its limits. Luo Yun quickly realized the boost wasn't infinite. His body could only handle so much, and now his speed had plateaued. With what he had now, outrunning Anjanath was impossible.
"Is this the end? Seriously? I stop being human and I still get limits? What's the point then!"
Despair gnawed at him. His legs kept pumping on instinct alone, buying whatever scraps of time they could.
As for turning back for some glorious last stand,biting off a chunk before dying? Forget it! With his bite strength right now, he'd be lucky to leave a scratch. More likely he'd break his own teeth before taking any flesh.
Better to run one step farther. Maybe fate would throw him a bone.
And fate did.
Suddenly, the forest opened up, his footing vanished, and he plunged off a cliff into the roaring river below.
Just before the water swallowed him, he thought he heard Anjanath's frustrated roar. The next moment, the current dragged him under and swept him downstream.
High above, the Anjanath skidded to a halt at the cliff's edge. Its cold, furious eyes burned with disbelief. Who would have thought a scrawny juvenile Rathalos,a creature not even suited for ground pursuit,could run this far?
It had chased him through half a forest, so close it could already taste the victory. It had pictured tearing off those annoying wings, crunching fragile scales between its teeth, swallowing down that hot, delicious blood.
And then,gone. All for nothing. A Rathalos, slipping through its claws!
Flames licked from its jaws, its eyes blood,red. Its nostrils flared like a crown, the heat membranes on its back spreading like wings. Its fury boiled over with no outlet.
So it stood on the cliff and bellowed, roar after roar, venting its rage into the sky.
Meanwhile, Luo Yun was being battered mercilessly in the torrent. He couldn't count how many times he'd slammed against rocks. His body throbbed until the pain turned numb. All he could do was surface for air whenever the river let him.
He had no idea how long it lasted, but eventually the current gentled, the crushing force fading away.
In a quiet pool, the young Rathalos spread his wings, letting them buoy him toward the surface. On instinct, he paddled to the bank and collapsed onto the sand.
Water gushed from his mouth with each gasp. His whole body screamed with exhaustion and pain, but one thing was certain,he was alive. He had survived the brute's jaws.
He wanted to laugh, but even that took too much strength. All he could do was sprawl on the sand, chest heaving.
Nothing left. Not a single drop of energy.
If something attacked him now, he wouldn't even twitch.
Sure, his speed ability had let him flee, but the stamina it drained was brutal. His scales were cracked in several places, blood seeping through. He looked absolutely wretched.
Why?
His first time with a "cheat." His first successful hunt of real prey.
Shouldn't those add up to double the joy?
So why had it turned into this mess?
Wasn't activating a cheat supposed to flip the switch to "protagonist mode"? Shouldn't he be destined to stand atop the food chain one day, with Gold Rathians, Purple Ludroths, and Pink Rathians all falling into his grasp?
How had he almost ended up as dinner instead?
Rustling footsteps snapped him out of it. His heart clenched. Forcing his eyes open, he peeked,then exhaled in relief.
"Herbivores… thank goodness."
They weren't aggressive. Still, being gawked at by a bunch of herbivores… kind of embarrassing.
"Hey! Don't just stare. I'm a Rathalos, you know! A scary one!"
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Note: If you're enjoying the story, you can read up to Chapter 22... You can read 19 chapters ahead of the current one) on my Patreon: patreon.com/Aurevynluv