He was finally at the last destination, at the very end of the mini desert. Ahead lied a cracked, parched land, with no vegetation or any signs of life. Only large boulders could be seen, randomly littered around without any discernible pattern. From what he understood, the moment he took a single step into that lifeless land, the trial would begin.

So, he did.

Immediately, he was welcomed with a majestic roar, a roar that he recognized. He had heard it before in movies and wildlife documentaries, but never had a chance to actually witness the beast in real life. His father had taken him to jungle safaries a few times, but actually spotting a lion was a matter of what time you visited and if you were lucky enough. 

Family Felidae, genus Panthera. Scientific name: Panthera Leo. Also commonly titled the king of all beasts, known as the lion.

" Oh well, if I die here, at the very least it was at the hands of a king, not a fucking rabbit." he thought.

He got a glimpse of it's figure as it charged toward him. The lion also seemed to have gained benefits from the system, as its fur was now a mix of white and bright yellow, while it's bulk seemed to have reduced by half. However, what was left seemed to be packed completely with muscles, as if all the excesses that were weighing it down had been considered a hindrance and eliminated.

The lion was fast, but Tim could keep up with its movements. However, it had other tricks up at his sleeves. It leapt at him from a distance of 10 meters, much to Tim's surprise. However, creatures in the multiverse could not be judged by his earthly common sense, so he went with the assumption that it would reach him.

With his right hand, Tim thrust the rapier calculating it according to the beast's trajectory mid air, as it had already traversed half the distance between them. He hoped that by the time his rapier was fully extended, it would collide with the beast in a clean stab, hopefully leaving a major wound, as he was using the velocity of the beast against it, a deadly combination along with his rapier imbued with sharpness. He only had time for imbuing one aspect, and sharpness was the logical answer.

His golden claw was kept as a makeshift shield near his heart, banking on it's hardness to somewhat shield him from an otherwise fatal blow. Using both at the same time was a complicated endeavour, with little reward in the present situation. The anticipated moment was almost here, the rapier about to collide with this fascinatingly beautiful creature, when the second surprise came.

It twisted its body midair, displaying an inhuman level of control over its limbs, and in complete disregard of the blade that was less than a meter away from it, as if it weren't qualified to be a threat against the king. Blowing past Tim's extended weapon, and glaring at him right in the eye, showing it's anger at this pitiful form of resistance.

Tim was swept in a wave of horror as he saw the lion dodge his extended rapier in such an unnatural manner, then glare at him as if he was already a dead man. There was no way he could retract his rapier and defend with it, even if he had time to use the aspect of speed. All he could do was slightly raise the claw in line with the aim of the lion, which seemed to be his jugular.

Indeed, that was the case. But instead of using its teeth to bite into his jugular, the lion simply swiped with it's right claw. A single, nonchalant swipe.

Tim hadn't quite realized what happened. One moment he was fighting the lion, convinced that his initial strike would leave some damage on the beast, and then in the next.....he was flying. All he had wanted to do was probe the beast's defences, and retreat if it didn't go well. Life seemed to have other plans.

After a few moments passed, he made contact with the ground. Helpless, he went rolling sideways as if he was a soda can that someone had casually kicked aside, too lazy to put it in the bin, until he collided with something hard.

Involunarily, he started coughing up blood and heaving for air. A minute passed, and he stabilised somewhat. It seemed as if his lungs were either damaged or punctured, his breathing was laboured and painful. Using what meager grip the rock behind him provided, he slowly hobbled up to his feet. There wasn't any time, but try as he may there was no way to go faster. Why wasn't he dead yet? What in the hell was going on?

And then he saw the beast. It was still in the same spot leisurely prancing about, it's eyes twinkling and it's mouth upturned....as if it were smirking. Then it started purring cutely, not making any effort to charge at Tim.

He felt increasing cold as the realization set in. The only reason he had survived was because he was nothing more than a toy for this beast to play around with, his life and death struggle nothing but a source of amusement for it. This was no longer a test of his will and resolve, but naked humiliation. 

Anger. Unrestrained, pure anger. Consolidated rage, the likes of which he had never felt, not even at Amanda's death. That had been more of helplessness and self-depreciation. This was his limit. His struggles, his efforts, his pain and by extension hers as well.... were nothing more than a joke to this creature, a momentary source of entertainment was all that he amounted to, a prey not even smart enough to realize that his existence amounted to nothing, after all nobody would bat an eye if an elephant killed an ant, and there was no way to resist. 

Tim found himself in a detached state, unable to express his anger in words any longer, and uncaring of the trifles around him. There was no need for shouting, cursing or any reckless actions, that could come later. After all, in his eyes, this cat was already dead the moment it had crossed the line. 

He slowly started walking towards the beast, the system's quest no longer being relevant to him. The beast saw this and was surprised, that the human still had the will to fight. Oh well, it would make sure to kill the human this time, this was no longer fun if he didn't try to run away scared to death.

The lion charged, this time leaping at a distance of 7 meters away from Tim. This time he didn't care for defence, and both his weapons were pointed outward, his chest and face exposed. Decelaration, the creature slowed down mid air, confused. Speed, and a blindingly fast rapier went straight for the lion's right eye. However, it was no pushover, as it still managed to dodge midair, though because it's speed had been reduced, a fresh laceration now opened up at its right side.

As Tim had expected, the cat had still managed to dodge. It now aimed to claw his jugular from the left side, aiming to finish him off in a single strike. This was the opportunity he was waiting for. He dropped the extended rapier in his right hand, giving up on the weapon.

Using all his strength, and imbuing all the speed and sharpness aspect he could, even resorting to over-drafting power beyond his control, he moved, continuously maintaining the augmentation. His right hand, now weapon-less allowed him much greater movement and flexibility, retracted backwards, while taking a step forward with his left foot, his clawed hand advancing, synchronised with the retreat of his right in a circular motion designed to conserve his momentum as best he could.

He clawed through the little cat's face, blinding it in its left eye, tearing through the mouth and leaving three streaks of deep gashes. It went tumbling away a few meters far, and Tim ran after it. It's flight had come to an end, it lied there thrashing about in a small crater. Tim circled around it and then holding it's back down with his right hand, he started punching down with his clawed hand. 

It's hide was thick, but if he continued attacking it with Sharpness it would bleed out and die eventually. Gruesome though it may be, he continued punching it, his claws getting embedded in it's flesh, then pulling it out and repeating the process.

In a cracked, raspy voice that seemed to be hard pressed for air, he said " I wonder, how must it feel to lose to a powerless human you could've killed in the first blow? Mustn't feel too good I'd imagine. Really, it feels like such a cliche thing to say, but you should've killed me the first time around, little cat. Kill me if you must, in this new world that is the norm after all, I will not hold a grudge for that..... but you better not dare mock me, bastard."