Kegali's lush forest. A place where dangerous and powerful monsters lived. On every corner, roars of different monsters could be heard fighting— or crying as their lives were taken for the name of survival. There was no place for the weak in this vast forest; to survive, one must strive to be strong or die as a result of their inability to fight for their own lives. It was the forest's rule that the weak would be eaten and the strong would live to fight another day.

Every monster had its own method of survival and hunting; some had versatile eyesight that could see even in the darkest of nights and could also be used to easily escape from predators, while others relied on their racial exclusive skill, namely Slugs and their skill, Body Mucus. However, some of the monsters were born to be one of the dominant species, and were built with exceptional abilities that few of the monsters in this area of the forest could compete with.

For example, a very versatile smelling ability with a range of up to 32 kilometers. It belonged to one of the Kegali forest's top hunters. It was now on its way to its destination. It rushed through the tall trees and grass, all eyes on its lone target, with no one to help it. However, for whatever reason, its target was lying on the ground, seemingly dozing off in the cool afternoon.

This monster had the appearance of a ferocious bear. It had coal-black fur and razor-sharp fangs that could easily rip its victim's flesh to shreds. A stunning monster of pure might and ferocity, standing at two meters tall. There was no way out once it had decided on a target. Finally, it roared as it approached its next meal, raising its massive hands with sharp claws.

It was time to eat... or so it thought.

RACE: Lesser Bildabear [Level: 31/40].

HP: 580/580

MP: 310/310

Top Speed: 62 km/h

Defense: 3

[STATS.]

Strength: 58

Agility: 31

Intelligence: 31

[DAMAGING ACTIVE SKILLS.]

Claw Strike [MP Cost: 20] [Level: 20/20].

Violent Charge [MP Cost: 20] [Level: 20/20].

Feral Roar [MP Cost: 6] [Level: 6/20].

[NON-DAMAGING ACTIVE SKILLS.]

Thick Hide [MP Cost: 1]

Spiky Fur [MP Cost: 20] [Level: 20/20].

[PASSIVE SKILLS.]

[Lesser] MP Regeneration.

[Lesser] HP Regeneration.

[Lesser] Mana Absorb.

As a thunderous roar echoed near him, Eon grunted. His white massive Lesser Gigante Boar body was flat lying on the ground, covered in Ice Armor, while his nose was playing with a circular white fruit he got from the tree he was under. The brown seeds of the fruits he had already eaten were close to his head. He had been lying there for hours after eating fruits.

Despite this, he was fully equipped with both of his skills, Ice Armor and Vanguard, even while resting.

Eon lifted his glowing sky-blue eyes from the fruit he was playing with and looked at the monster, who was staring at him as if Eon were a tasty easy meal. He raised his head higher to properly see the newly arrived monster, and as he did so, he grunted once more.

Eon pushed his massive body up and faced the predator who was preying on him. He looked at the Lesser Bildabear and grunted again, not showing any signs of distress. The Lesser Bildabear, on the other hand, roared and charged toward Eon.

The Lesser Bildabear had fought countless monsters and had learned how to defeat any specific monster it encountered. When it had its eyes on its prey, it was almost always unstoppable, especially when the target was a massive pack of meat, which was the lone Lesser Gigante Boar in front of it. The Lesser Bildabear was certain that it could defeat the monster in front of it because it had done so many times before... To the point where it ignored Eon's bulky armor.

When the Lesser Bildabear reached a certain distance, it stopped, opened its mouth, and unleashed Feral Roar, a level 6 damaging skill that would damage everything in a fan-shaped area in front of it. A powerful force barraged Eon as the Lesser Bildabear unleashed its attack, like a destructive wind that crushed everything in its path. The powerful roar echoed throughout the area, causing chaos and causing nearby birds and land dwellers to flee as quickly as they could.

After withstanding what was supposed to be a powerful attack head on, Eon raised his head and grunted at the Lesser Bildabear.

Feral Roar dealt 249.4 damage, which was less than the total damage reduction of Eon's Defense and Vanguard, which was 295.

But that was only the beginning. The Bildabear roared once more and activated its skill, Spiky Fur, which, at level 20, would return 50% of the damage dealt to the user to the attacker. The retaliation, however, would only be activated if the user survived the attack. The fur of the Lesser Bildarbear became sharper and rose up. It also activated its racial-exclusive skill, Thick Hide, which reduced damage from fire and ice elemental attacks by 25%. It was part of the Lesser Bilderbear's fighting style to use this skill regardless of the monster it was up against.

Eon, on the other hand, just stood there staring. Then he grunted. 

The Lesser Bildabear rushed toward Eon and attempted to collide with him with a destructive force by activating its skill, Violent Charge.

Such power that even a mighty Lesser Gigante Boar would struggle to withstand. However... Its opponent was no ordinary Lesser Gigante Boar.

[Icy Touch has been activated.]

[Lethal Augmentation has been activated.]

The rushing predator's gushing sound didn't even make Eon consider fleeing. He just stood there bravely taking the attack. Then came the crushing sound of two giants colliding, with the Lesser Bildabear slamming into Eon.

[Violent Charge has dealt 292.5 damage to your Ice Armor.]

[Violent Charge has dealt 50.5 damage to you.]

Because the Ice Armor had taken the maximum amount of damage it could, it vanished in the air, and the excess damage was taken by Eon. Due to Vanguard's damage reduction, his 100 defense value, and Ice Armor, he only received 50.5 direct damage from the skill, Violent Charge, instead of the original 638 damage.

Then came Eon's retaliation.

[Icy Touch has dealt 209.25 damage.]

Eon's Icy Touch was reduced by the Lesser Bildabear's 150 defense value and by the racial exclusive skill, Thick Hide, which reduced ice element attack by 25%. From 429 to 209.25.

Lethal Augmentation, on the other hand, was not an ice element attack.

[Lethal Augmentation has dealt 240 damage.]

The Lesser Bildabear roared as it jumped out in response to its enemy's unexpected retaliation. Spiky Fur activated and returned 50% of each attack it took; they were calculated individually. Because none of the retaliation damage even exceeded Eon's damage reduction of his skill, Vanguard, and defense value, Eon received no damage from the Spiky Fur, rendering it ineffective against him.

The Lesser Bildabear swayed in the air, its right shoulder and entire right arm frozen solid because they were the parts of its body that collided with Eon.

RACE: Lesser Bildabear [Level: 31/40].

HP: 130.75/580

MP: 263/310

The Lesser Bildabear touched its frozen arm. However, when its massive left hand touched it, it fell to the ground and crumbled into pieces. The poor bear could only stare at the pieces of its arm that were scattered on the ground with wide eyes.

[Ice Armor has been activated.]

[Ice Armor has 292.5 HP.]

Eon, on the other hand, just grunted and stared at the Lesser Bildabear. Eon's pure white Lesser Gigante Boar's body was once again covered in Ice Armor. The Lesser Bildabear shifted its widened gaze to Eon, as if realization had just dawned on it...

It had attacked the wrong monster...

The Lesser Bildabear walked back slowly, never taking its gaze away from the massive enemy in front of it. This monster wasn't particularly intelligent, but it knew when to back down from a fight. It could skip a meal now and then, and a severed arm could simply regenerate as it leveled up. So it wasn't that big of a deal to have a reason to keep fighting an unexpectedly powerful foe.

Eon just stood there and watched the Lesser Bildabear slowly back out of the way. The Lesser Bildabear then dashed away from Eon after determining where to flee. Eon snorted when he saw the Lesser Bildabear's attempted escape.

He had no intention of letting it go...

[Deceitful Shapeshifter has been activated.]

Eon flew toward the fleeing Lesser Bildabear, flapping his wings and growling with his Slug head. It could smell him coming and how quickly he was closing the gap. It realized right away that there was no way to get away from Eon.

The Lesser Bildabear came to a halt and turned to face Eon, bravely standing up and staring at Eon with its fierce predator black eyes. It then raised its left hand, exposing its razor-sharp black claws. Fighting was the only remaining option.

When Eon saw the majestic bear's resolve, he waved his wings faster and rushed toward it.

[Lethal Augmentation has been activated.]

Eon caught up with the Lesser Bildabear, who used its skill, Claw Strike, to strike Eon down. Eon maneuvered in the air and avoided the attack; it was much easier for him because he knew exactly where the attack was coming from. Then, taking advantage of the Lesser Bildabear's momentum, he slammed his body into its chest, killing it.

[Lethal Augmentation has dealt 240 damage.]

The Lesser Bildabear roared its final roar before dying. While Eon was riding its chest, it surged to the ground. As the Lesser Bildabear's back fell, the dry leaves on the ground made crunchy sounds.

The battle was over, and the supposed predator had been defeated by its supposed prey.

[You have received 20 experience points.]

[You have gained a level.]

[You have increased your Strength stat by one.]

[You have increased your Agility stat by one.]

[You have increased your Intelligence stat by one.]

[You have been awarded two skill points.]

[Your HP and MP have been replenished.]

[Deceitful Shapeshifter: a new form has been acquired. The Lesser Bildabear form is now available for use.]

[Deceitful Shapeshifter has been activated.]

Eon stood up in his new form, clad in Ice Armor. If he wasn't covered in ice, he'd have the appearance of a pure white bear. As Eon felt strange in this form, his glowing blue eyes wandered around... Such a different sensation from his other forms.

Eon raised both of his hands and shook them slowly. He had no idea how, but he was very familiar with how this type of body functioned. Standing on two feet, with hands and fingers... Humanoid in shape. Eon growled in a bear-like manner, but remained motionless and stared at his hands.

However, his attention was drawn when he realized what a significant advantage this form possessed. Excellent sense of smell. Eon raised his nose and breathed, smelling every monster within a 32-kilometer radius. Eon's nose could detect almost all of the monsters in a wide range, except those who could hide their odor.

Then, inside his head, all the information about all monsters within his smelling range surged. The amount of information in Eon's head was so overwhelming that he had to hold his head with both hands. It was like very long-range thermal vision, but through the nose, and even when Eon closed his eyes, he could see the monsters... This was how the Lesser Bildabear tracked Eon down from such a great distance.

Eon sat on the ground, next to the Lesser Bildabear's corpse. Unlike the Lesser Bildabears, who were born with this ability and could naturally adjust to their mind-grinding smelling ability, Eon was not born with it and had to learn to adjust to it. He felt like his head was being smashed in every direction. However, Eon persevered and endured the pain in the hopes of eventually becoming accustomed to it, or at the very least making it bearable.

He'd get through it... And once he did, the ascension of the deadliest monster to ever inhabit Kegali's great forest would continue, but in a more devastating manner.

A body type that, for reasons he was unaware of, had a high compatibility with him and one of the best smelling abilities in the Kegali forest. For those two reasons alone, the Lesser Bildabear form quickly became Eon's best form thus far.

RACE: Armored Cryo Teplonide [Level: 22/30] [Exp. Points: 13/25].

HP: 400/400

MP: 219/220

Top Speed: 44 km/h

Defense: 2

[STATS.]

Strength: 40

Agility: 22

Intelligence: 22

[DAMAGING ACTIVE SKILLS.]

Lethal Augmentation [MP Cost: 20] [Level: 20/20].

Icy Touch [MP Cost: 20] [Level: 20/20].

[NON-DAMAGING ACTIVE SKILLS.]

Deceitful Shapeshifter [MP Cost: 1]

Ice Armor [MP Cost: 5] [Level: 5/20].

[Imitation] Vanguard [MP Cost: 40] [Level: 20/20].

[PASSIVE SKILLS.]

World Conqueror's Perception.

[Lesser] MP Regeneration.

[Lesser] HP Regeneration.

SKILL POINTS AVAILABLE: 2