Declan, though blinded by the darkness, could hear everything.
The rattling, the rapid footsteps, and the turbulent rustling of leaves.
Every sound was proof that bestial creatures lurked throughout the jungle, hiding somewhere within the darkness.
The absence of a moon left the forest almost completely pitch-black, leaving him unable to see them, but in a way, that was a good thing.
Only the heavens knew how badly he would have freaked out if he could actually see the number of beasts lurking around him.
That panic alone might have been enough to give away his position, ultimately getting him killed.
But after some time, something changed...he heard sniffing.
It had happened several times already, so Declan wasn’t particularly worried, figuring the beasts had probably detected the strange scent he’d left behind while searching for stones and vines, only to lose interest after failing to trace the smell back to the tree.
Except this time...It was different.
Another sniff, then came a monstrous growl.
Worse still, Declan’s body suddenly stiffened as a strange tingling sensation crawled up his spine, as though something had somehow locked onto him.
BOOOOOM!
The tree shook violently, and Declan’s heart nearly exploded from his chest as he felt the entire trunk tremble beneath him.
CREAAAAK!
Claws scraped against the bark, the tree trembled harder and harder beneath him.
It had found him.
With every sniff, the creature crept closer.
Declan carefully peeked through an opening in the leaves he had used to conceal himself and narrowed his eyes.
There was...Nothing!?
The sniffing had stopped, so had the scratching.
’Did it fall back to the ground?’
’But if it did, I should’ve heard the leaves rus—’
GROOOOOWWWLLL!
The growl echoed through the night, and Declan’s thoughts froze.
It sounded close, far too close.
Sweat trickled down his face as he slowly turned his head, and there it was.
A creature straight out of his worst nightmare.
The first thing Declan saw was its eyes.
Five hollow white eyes, glowing as brightly as lightbulbs, stared directly at him from within the darkness.
A faint glimmer reflected off the edge of his spear, briefly illuminating the creature’s terrifying features.
It was massive, and even while crouched on all fours, it stood roughly a meter tall, with a pitch-black tail hanging behind it and swaying slowly, radiating an eerie, smoke-like darkness.
Its body was covered in black fur, interrupted only by gray markings that resembled deep lacerations, while five-centimeter claws dug firmly into the tree branch beneath it.
Despite its size, the creature balanced effortlessly among the branches.
Two nostrils beneath its eyes flared as it took three more deep sniffs, as if to confirm something, and then,
ROOOOOOOAAAAARRR!
A deafening roar exploded directly into Declan’s face; the resulting shockwave striking with enough force to launch him from the tree.
The world blurred as he was blasted backward through the branches, while a colossal ringing filled his ears and threatened to turn his brain to mush, yet Declan desperately forced himself to remain conscious.
His hands moved instinctively, and he drove the spear into the surface of the tree.
The weapon dug into the wood, allowing his body to swing beneath the branch and hang precariously over the darkness below.
He hadn’t even managed to catch his breath when a white light suddenly illuminated his body.
Declan looked up, and found the creature already coming for him, bouncing from branch to branch with speed.
The hunt had begun.
[That’s some shitty luck you got there, mate!]
The System’s panel blinked at the corner of Declan’s vision, but he didn’t even spare it a glance.
With a powerful swing of the spear, he launched himself sideways.
CRACK!
The creature’s claws tore through the spot where he had been standing, carving three deep gashes, each nearly ten centimeters deep, into the bark.
The spear slipped free, and Declan tumbled through the branches, quickly driving the weapon into another branch and using it to halt his fall.
His heart pounded violently as he looked around.
Once again...the creature was gone.
Declan immediately leaped from his branch to another and began running, moving from branch to branch as quickly as he could.
The moment he started moving, he heard it.
SNAP!
A branch broke behind him, then another, and the shadow of the creature drew closer and closer.
’Just like I thought. It was right behind me.’
Declan twisted from one branch to another, narrowly avoiding a sharp whistle of air as the creature’s paw swept past his head.
Without hesitation, he stabbed his spear into the trunk of a nearby tree, using the planted weapon as leverage to yank himself roughly forty-five degrees sideways before landing on another branch.
The Panthercrack stopped where he had been standing, and for a moment, the two simply stared at each other.
"You know, your bulbous eyes are way too bright."
Declan steadied himself as he watched the creature carefully.
"So you shut them to hide your presence?"
A faint grin tugged at his lips.
"That’s a pretty cheap trick..."
The jungle was pitch-black, but Declan could hear the branch beneath the creature slowly shifting under its weight.
Then...the eyes opened.
All five.
Five brilliant white lights suddenly illuminated the forest, with most of their glow converging directly onto Declan.
’I know this creature. It’s a Five-eyed Panthercrack.’
Many Mecha Builds took inspiration from the forms and physiology of bestial creatures, which had given Declan countless opportunities to study their bodies in detail, particularly when designing Mecha integrations capable of mimicking their natural abilities.
The Five-eyed Panthercrack was one such creature.
A Peak Grade-E beast renowned for its assassination abilities among creatures of the same grade.
Its greatest strengths were stealth and mobility, allowing it to climb trees effortlessly and move without making the slightest sound.
However, it possessed one obvious weakness.
Its five glowing eyes.
They were impossible to conceal for long.
Its primary methods of attack were its claws and fangs, although the strange tail behind it possessed a unique ability that could only be used once.
"And speaking of weaknesses..."
SNAP!
The tree beneath the Panthercrack splintered, and Declan raised his head, finding the creature’s claws reaching for his face.
[You should have kept running.]
The System’s panel flickered, but instead of fear, Declan’s lips curved into a confident grin.
He lowered his stance and tightened his grip around the spear with both hands.
"There’s something you should know about me, System..."
His eyes locked onto the approaching beast.
"I’m never afraid of something I’ve studied."
With those words, Declan launched himself from the branch, shooting directly toward the Panthercrack’s outstretched claws.