[A monster amidst monsters]

▽▽▽

-Boom!-

-Boom!-

-Boom!-

"Why is this guy even so fixated on me?! I'm not even a threat to it!!"

Running across the jungle without looking back, Ryu was currently escaping from the enormous white tiger that he had encountered a few minutes ago.

This time, however, his stamina was getting drained incredibly fast due to the enormous speed of the tiger, which didn't allow him to take even the slight rest out of fear of getting killed at any moment.

Ryu had confirmed it many times before, but luckily for him, most of the creatures in this jungle lacked speed. Most of their incredibly high power level originated probably from their colossal sizes and their enormous physical strength, not from speed or ki, as most of the warriors in the universe did, or so did his Dragon ball knowledge made him theorize.

If the creatures here knew how to use ki, then he would have been already dead a long time ago.

Or maybe it was their ki that gave them so much power, Ryu wasn't completely sure about which option was the correct... But there was no need for him to think about that at that moment.

However, even though the tiger was lacking speed despite its enormous power level, it didn't mean that Ryu was incredibly faster than it either.

After all, what Ryu could travel in tens of steps, the tiger only needed one to travel the same distance. It was being pretty hard for Ryu to keep his distance from the tiger, who seemed to have some strange grudge with him even though he hadn't done anything to anger it.

Moreover, the destruction that the Tiger could cause each time it tried to attack Ryu was something on a completely different level from the bear, and it was obvious why... After all, the bear only had around 500 of power level, whereas this so-called lord of the jungle had over 2,000 of power level... They were simply different existences.

Every time the tiger waved its claws in his direction, an enormous piece of the jungle would be sent flying away, or simply obliterated due to the enormous power of the attack.

It was only thanks to his increased psyche, a senses-sharpening potion, the activation of his [Stronger than a mouse!] and [Faster than a turtle!] skills, and his increased knowledge in martial arts that allowed him to lessen the unnecessary movements that he was being able to dodge the several amounts of debris from the tiger's attacks flying around everywhere while escaping.

Even though he wanted to use the Taiyoken to blind the tiger just like he had done with all his previous foes, if he slowed down even for a second he was sure that the tiger could catch up to him and turn him into meat paste immediately.

Fighting was also out of question, as he was sure that even the tail of the tiger could be enough to kill him if the tiger desired it.

Thus, the only option for Ryu was to run as far as he could and wait for an opportunity to disappear from the Tiger's radar.

As fast as he could, Ryu opened his status window and started checking it repeatedly with short glances to not lose concentration on his surroundings.

'What the hell can I use from here...?!'

▽

≡[System bearer: Ryu Kain]

-Power Level: 542 [+177] (Temporary)

-Z Points: 1060

≡[Abilities]

-Ki mastery (E): 15%

-Martial arts [One arm style] (D): 6%

-Magical arts (F): 5%

≡[Skills]

▷Journey of the traveler (Passive)

▸Fate will bend against you.

▷Power level scan (Active)

▸Scans the power level of any being that is within your eyesight. Please note that Gods cannot be scanned unless the host possesses divine Ki.

▷Taiyoken/Solar Flare (Active)

▸Emits an incredibly dazzling beam of light that can blind the enemy due to its intensity.

[Advice: Please note that if the user emits the Taiyoken from a part of the body that is in the user's field of view, it is very probable that the user will be blinded too.]

▷Stronger than a mouse! [★☆☆☆☆☆☆] (Active)

▸Increases the resistance of your body and your strength by 50% more for a short amount of time.

▷Faster than a turtle! [★☆☆☆☆☆☆] (Active)

▸Increases your agility, flexibility, and the speed you gain when using ki by 50% more for a short amount of time.

▷Intimidation [★☆☆☆☆☆☆] (Active)

▸Releases a wave of killing intent that can scare multiple opponents with a lower power level than you, and slightly decrease their strength. You can also use it simply to scare your enemies and make them run away, depending on you. [Please note that intimidation does not work with beings with a higher power level than you]

≡[Inventory]

▸Bottle of enhanced medicinal liquid. [4]

▸Senses sharpening potion. [1]

▸Pain-reducing pill. [3]

▸Enhancing Pill. [1]

▸Water bottle. [14]

▸Nutritional paste. [15]

▸Stamina Replenishing pill. [7]

▸Nutritional liquid for plants. [1]

▽

'I could use the enhancing pill and increase my power level to a thousand... Maybe in that way, I could be able to increase my speed enough to run away from this guy successfully... But that's only considering that this guy doesn't have an ace on its sleeve, waiting for me to become a real threat to use it... What if as soon as I become stronger this guy also becomes stronger using some kind of transformation and kills me even more easily than now...?!'

-ROOOAAAAAR!!!-

Suddenly, while Ryu was still thinking deeply about how to run away, the whole fur of the white tiger began to stand on the end, and its eyes started glowing with an ominous blue light. The crackling sounds of electricity soon started echoing all around the whole creature, before suddenly an enormous blue light started enveloping the whole body of the tiger, similar to an aura.

'What the fu-'

Ryu didn't even have time to think, as soon, the tiger opened its jaws, and roared with a ferocious voice.

-ROOAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!!-

-CLACKRCKL!!!-

In the blink of an eye, an enormous lightning bolt was sent in the direction of Ryu and destroyed everything on its path. Nothing was left, as everything inside the range of the attack was turned to ashes as soon as the attack landed.

Even the ground, which was supposed to conduct electricity somewhat, was burned and turned into molten rock and earth due to the enormous temperature of the attack.

-Growl...-

Even then, the Tiger didn't leave and started looking for Ryu everywhere, sniffing now and then to detect him if he was around.

Even though the tiger was an animal, it had not become the Lord of the Jungle by being a careless being. Contrary to its peers, this beast had always been cautious of every creature in the jungle and always made sure to end its enemies without mercy. Ascending slowly but surely to become the strongest in the jungle due to its cautious and cunning nature.

Eventually, as the white tiger became stronger than any beast in the jungle, it somehow managed to start feeling the energy inside its body, that had grown enormous without it noticing, and as years passed, it even learned to control it and use it to attack... Creating like this the deathly attack that it had used on Ryu.

If Ryu had a scouter when the tiger fired its attack, then the power level of the tiger displayed in the device could have increased to an incredible 5000. That was how fearsome this attack had been.

'Holy mother of all cows... How did I even dodge that?!'

Ryu, who was hiding behind a tree several meters away from where he had been standing before the attack, looked with disbelieving and despairing expression at the zone where the attack had landed, wondering if defeating this guy was even possible.

At the last moment of the attack, he had used quite a big chunk of ki to strengthen his leg and jump away from the lightning bolt. However, even then, some of his skin had been burned off due to the enormously high temperatures, revealing even a bit of his bones along the way, fortunately, he managed to avoid having another one of his limbs cut off.

'Shit, even if I dodged that attack, this guy will eventually know where I am because of its ridiculous sense of smell, added with the fact that now I smell like cooked meat, my time is already running short... However, that enormous attack had given me one opportunity... Let's just hope everything goes well...'

...

'...'

-Sigh...-

Ryu, who thought about his previous thoughts, shook his head and prepared himself for the worst.

'... Who am I kidding? Nothing will go well'

Like that, Ryu prepared himself and readied his next move, as the head of the tiger approached slowly in his direction, following the smell.

...

-End of the Chapter-

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