FREE USE in Primitive World

Chapter 225: Chapter 225: Obsidian-Scale Jaguar

If he remembered correctly from Kira’s nagging, it was an Obsidian-Scale Jaguar. An Omen Blood-Bloodline beast. And considering its size, it was most likely just a Layer 1 or 2 beast. That’s right, such a massive, terrifying monster was just a Layer 1 or 2 in this world.

The beast slowly raised its massive head. Its eyes were pools of burning gold. It didn’t roar. It just stared at Sol with an eerie, terrifyingly intelligent coldness. It evaluated him not even as a threat, but as a surprisingly tender piece of meat delivering itself directly to its mouth.

“Alright, kitty,” Sol rumbled, his deep voice vibrating in his chest as the sheer excitement washed away any lingering caution. Thankfully it wasn’t some high layer, Lord Blood Beast, otherwise he would have fucked up. He spun his spear in a fluid arc, the heavy weapon feeling as light as a twig in his reinforced grip. “Let’s see in my current form, if I can contend with a Layer 1 or 2 beast.”

The Jaguar’s eyes narrowed. The metallic scales along its spine suddenly flared, standing on end like the hackles of a normal cat.

The beast lunged.

Since it was layer 1 beast, it meant that it could use the essence and that’s exactly what this kitty did, it channeled its raw essence internally. A dense, heavy yellow light instantly coated its blackened scythe-claws. The earth essence couldn’t leave its body yet, so it simply enhanced the physical weapons, multiplying their weight and cutting power exponentially. The sheer force of its leap tore deep craters into the dirt.

Essence enhancement. Pure physical build, Sol noted instantly.

He didn’t try to dodge. He didn’t have the leverage in mid-stance. Instead, Sol let the Golden Liquid in his chest flood his arms, adding literal, crushing physical weight to his own weapon. He brought the heavy Void-Oak shaft of his spear down in a brutal, sweeping block to intercept the glowing claws.

The impact sounded like a bomb going off.

The Void-Oak shaft, reinforced by Sol’s immense, heavy essence, met the essence-enhanced claws without splintering. The sheer kinetic backlash of the block sent a violent tremor through the clearing, cracking the ground beneath Sol’s boots like dry ice.

The Jaguar blinked, genuine surprise flickering in its golden eyes. It had expected the fragile human to be sliced in half. It had not expected the human to hit back with the force of a falling mountain.

“It seems doable,” Sol muttered, feeling the impact of his full force against a monster for the first time.

He didn’t give the beast time to recalibrate its strategy.

“My turn,” he growled with a grin.

He pushed off the cracked earth, the moss exploding behind him. The gap between them was fifty feet, and Sol closed it in just a few seconds. He was a blur of dark leather and bone armor.

He drew his arm back, his muscles bulging as the Golden Liquid engine in his chest roared to life, demanding to be let off the leash. He thrust the obsidian spear forward, aiming directly for the gap in the Jaguar’s metallic armor right beneath its jaw.

The beast reacted with terrifying, predatory speed. It didn’t try to dodge the impossibly fast strike, it swung its massive, spiked tail like a wrecking ball to intercept the spear.

The obsidian spearhead met the condensed stone club.

A shockwave of sheer physical force ripped through the clearing, instantly flattening the surrounding ferns and stripping the bark off the nearest trees. Sol felt the immense, bruising impact travel up the shaft of his spear and into his arms, pushing his muscles to their actual limits.

He was pushed back a single step, his boots carving deep trenches in the dirt. The Jaguar was thrown back three feet, its tail momentarily knocked out of alignment.

But as the dust settled and the ringing in Sol’s ears faded, his analytical mind quickly recalibrated the data.

He looked down at his boots, which had carved trenches in the dirt, and then at his trembling arms.

Sol’s internal monologue paused, squinting through the fading debris. The kinetic feedback was heavy, but it didn’t shatter my bones. And my Golden Liquid barely even had to circulate to reinforce my muscles to block that.

He pushed his Crimson-Sight deeper, peering past the beast’s intimidating, metallic obsidian scales and directly into its spiritual center.

The core inside the Jaguar was the absolute trademark of an Omen-Blood. It possessed the okayish genetic ceiling and the innate magical traits Zephyra had lectured about. But as Sol analyzed the density and the structural rings of the core, the truth clicked into place.

Ah. It’s not a Layer 2 beast, Sol realized, a mixture of relief and faint disappointment washing over him. It’s a Layer 1. An Omen-Blood, yes, but it’s still just a juvenile at the very bottom of its progression path. It’s a big kitten flexing in the shallow end of the pool.

The Obsidian-Scale Jaguar, however, did not consider itself a kitten.

Infuriated that the fragile, unarmored biped hadn’t been crushed into paste by its tail, the beast let out a deafening, metallic roar that shook the bioluminescent fungi from the surrounding roots. It bared its fangs, and the earth essence within its body flared, causing its entire scaled form to emit a dense, heavy yellow aura that visibly distorted the air.

“Alright, junior,” Sol let out a breathless, exhilarated laugh. The ant had been a joke. But this? This required him to actually circulate the heavy, viscous ocean inside his chest. This was a real fight.

He chuckled, adjusting his grip on the Void-Oak spear and shifting his weight. “You’re not the final boss I’m looking for, but you’re a perfect test subject for my new powers. Let’s dance.”

The Jaguar lunged again. Using its earth essence to dramatically increase its physical mass and traction, it practically teleported across the clearing.

It relied on sheer, overwhelming physical brutality. It swiped its glowing, scythe-like claws in a rapid, devastating three-hit combination. The claws were so heavily infused with earth essence that the sheer air pressure from the swings tore deep gashes into the damp earth below them.

Close-quarters essence brawler. Nice,

He didn’t try to block them this time. Relying entirely on the absurd speed stat gifted by his insane physique, Sol became a blur of dark leather and bone armor. He sidestepped the first heavy, glowing swipe by a millimeter, the sharp wind slicing a few stray hairs from his head. He ducked under the second, feeling the heat of the compressed earth essence scorch the air above his neck, and vaulted completely over the third, horizontal slash.