"But don''t beasts attack indiscriminately? They aren''t just normal predators."


    Alex looked over to her at this point, making sure she could hear him clearly.


    "They will attack us since we are human, regardless of strength — because they arepelled to by a higher force, but when ites to other beasts it is different. It''s just like any predator-prey rtionship in nature."


    "The stronger one is the predator, the weaker one is prey."


    Mira listened to Alex''s exnation intently, but she had almost entirely nked out everything he said about predator-prey h h h…


    Because there was one thing that stuck in her mind since she heard it.


    "Compelled by a higher force to attack us!??"


    Alex could only look at her helplessly and redirect her focus back onto the actual task at hand.


    "I''ll tell you about it in more detailter, right now we need to focus!"


    Minutes turned into hours as the tension grew heavier.


    Alex''s mind raced, considering if they should keep this up.


    Even his optimism was starting to waver at this point, with no indication of any beasts yet toe nearby whatsoever.


    Just one Variant ss beast, that was all they were asking for to show up, then they could move forward to another area and try a simr method again.


    If not, they might be stuck in this dense jungle — in the Primordial Expanse itself for even longer.


    The wait wasn''t ideal, but it was necessary.


    Suddenly though, Mira''s body tensed.


    "Movement."


    Without using her words, she signalled to Alex with her hands to signify that she spotted movement near the periphery, where the dense jungle met the clearing.


    Alex immediately refocused his attention, his grip tightening around Virtue''s Edge.


    He was ready to strike, but only in the event that Mira couldn''t handle what wasing.


    Sure enough, something was stirring in the underbrush.


    He could see faint shes of movement as somethingrge moved stealthily toward the bait.


    But while it was moving stealthily, itsrge body was actually working against it.


    Out from the dense forest emerged a massive creature.


    Its sleek, spotted coat shimmered faintly in the dim light as it prowled into the clearing.


    This leopard wasrger, muchrger than the one they had killed earlier, and was almost all ck in colour, except for the odd brown patches that showed up when faced directly under sunlight.


    Its muscles rippled with every step, eyes glowing a faint yellow, locked onto the carcass of the fallen leopard, and it moved to it with a calcted grace that emanated an aura practically announcing itself like it was the king of this jungle.


    ''A ck leopard!''


    Alex didn''t know whether the different shading on the coat meant anything, but the beast sure looked damn cool!


    ''That thing has to be a Variant ss beast! I''ll eat my fist if even something as menacing looking as that is only a Mutant ss!''


    Alex breathed rapidly, easing his surging emotions.


    He had almost just run in to fight the beast himself and had to hold himself back from doing so.


    Mira had to be the one to kill this beast single handedly, not him! Regardless of how much he wanted to fight it…


    Mira''s eyes narrowed as she observed the ck leopard circling the carcass, while making constant checks of its surroundings to make sure no other beasts were nearby oring in to steal its meal.


    Alex remained stationary, watching her from the corner of his eye, ready to jump in if needed.


    The leopard cautiously approached the bait, sniffing the air, its senses sharp and alert.


    Mira wanted to wait a bit longer to let the perfect opportunity to strike to present itself, but it seemed things had gone a little sideways.


    The huge ck leopard just continued to sniff the air, without even taking notice of the beast carcass right below it.


    ''Shit, it smelled our scent!''


    Alex realised what was wrong right away.


    They had intended for the smell of blood to spread as far and wide as possible, but they had clearly achieved something they hadn''t taken into consideration.


    Mira''s scent must have still lingered on the beast''s corpse, and the metallic scent left behind by her de in the wound was a clear signal that whatever killed this leopard beast wasn''t another beast!


    "Mira, attack it now!"


    Alex knew there wasn''t any time left to waste, and the element of surprise was no longer an option now that the ck leopard had picked up on their scent.


    With a powerful burst of speed, Miraunched herself from the branch, descending silently like a shadow.


    Her de gleamed in the faint light as she aimed directly for the ck leopard''s neck.


    But the beast, already on high alert from detecting their scent, reacted swiftly.


    It shifted its body just in time, and instead of slicing through its neck, Mira''s de struck a powerful blow to its shoulder, embedding itself deeply into the dense muscle.


    "Roarrrr!"


    The ck leopard''s eyes burned with fury as it spun around to face Mira.


    Blood sprayed from the deep gash on its shoulder, but it was not a fatal wound — far from it.


    Miranded lightly on her feet, eyes wide with frustration.


    She had missed the kill shot, but there was no time to dwell on it now.


    The ck leopard lunged at her will incredible speed, ws extended, aiming to swipe her down. There was a trace of energy at the tips of the ws, something that clearly belonged to an element.


    Mira narrowly dodged to the side, her reflexes razor sharp and on edge, but the sheer force of the beast''s attack grazed her arm, tearing her sleeve and drawing blood.


    "Arrghh!"


    Mira let out a pained groan but she didn''t let it affect her judgement.


    "Mira!"


    Alex shouted from his position, watching the scene unfold.


    He could tell that the beast was stronger and faster than anticipated.


    His instincts screamed at him to jump in, but he knew better than to do that just yet.


    The ck leopard circled her, its movements still fluid despite the injury to its shoulder.


    It growled low with its throat, its yellow eyes glowing with a primal rage.


    "Roarrr!"


    It pounced again!


    This time Mira couldn''t dodge!