58 Conflict

"HARGHHARRRRRGHHARGH"

Raucous laughter thundered out of the white Jaguar's mouth.

"You came all this way, into the pit of my den, to tell me where I was born?"

There was a pause, a silence.

"Well, not exactly. But we can only get onto what I came here for once I know where you were born."

"And tell me why should I care?" the white Jaguar cut in, "Tell me what is stopping me from murdering you right now?"

Another pause, another silence.

"Nothing" answered the white Jaguar, its lips curling at this, "Absolutely nothing!"

A final pause, a final silence.

"You know what? I used to think Humans as smart beings, after all, I was the king of my jungle and yet I wasn't. All who saw me would tremble with fear before coming back to reality, sprinting for the lives within the next second. I would let most get away, but not Humans, never Humans. You let them leave and they come back with 10 more, armed to the teeth with unnatural weapons, unholy ones that break nature's way.

But not you. You are foolish, human."

What had started out as a heated roar was nothing but a cold whisper by the end.

"You asked me what was stopping you?" answered Stanis, "I am stopping you"

The white Jaguar snarled at this and leapt from its rock, coming face to face with Stanis in just a second.

"You think you can?" asked the white Jaguar, all its subjects revelling in its glory while its opponents anxiously moved back.

"I know I can" said Stanis, the ice crystal slipping out of his right sleeve as he said this, its edges smeared with lines of blood.

The white Jaguar squinted its eyes at this.

"This is the reason for your confidence?!" it bellowed, its eyes glowing red as it said so. It was using some type of intimidation skill, but Stanis wasn't intimidated. He could hear the seed of worry in the Jaguar's voice, only it was using another layer of volume to try and hide that. Pity for the Jaguar that the seed would only keep growing until it bore fruit of its own.

The previous pause hadn't been the final one, this was. The true final silence, both leaders locking eyes while their subjects anxiously watched.

The white Jaguar swung his club-like leg.

Stanis caught it with his left arm.

The white Jaguar then used his body as support to swing the other leg, its claws swiping with power.

Stanis stabbed it with his right arm, the ice crystal in his hand.

The white Jaguar peered its neck forwards, its gaping maw open wide, revealing all its menacing teeth in all their glory. The madness was clear in its eyes; it had gone beyond anger…

"Layman's Rush"

His left arm moved faster than light, his palm perfectly straight as he viciously slapped the white Jaguar's face, the animal failing to dodge and instead being struck to the ground.

There was blood leaking out of the white Jaguar's mouth as it spoke, "You want to play it this way, do you?" The surrounding Jaguars were worried, but also not worried. Their King was finished with playtime…

"RARRRGH" roared the white Jaguar, its body blasting out as its coloured fur was replaced with roaring flames, each flicker licking the air dry. The ground underneath the Jaguar was being scorched brown, the heat in the air dangerously rising, the burning stones releasing noxious fumes.

Out of thin air materialised several ice crystals, none of them larger than a palm, but their collective aura more dangerous than the white Jaguar's furious flames. Stanis's face was impassive but his eyes flicked with desire: even if the plans he had failed, at least he would get the chance to kill a tier-three to compensate. His left arm began to give off a deathly aura, the burnt air being sucked dry of life as he used destructive mana recharge. Following this was even more ice crystals coming to life, about 9 in total, leisurely spinning around Stanis.

The flames that had roared to life now quietened to the whispers you would find in any library. One more second passed and the flames died out, the burning Jaguar now back to being the white Jaguar.

It leisurely pounced up the large boulders, back to where it had started. Serb, the white Jaguar, now gazed down with a complicated look, different emotions battling it out inside of him.

If this was all the Human had, then Serb was close to certain he could kill him. But at what cost?

The tutorial they had gone through, the higher sentience they had gained through that. He had fought his way through simple trials, before working his way up the Jaguar ladder until he had ruled them all. But how many had died by that time?

And then they had been brought to a large arena, with all the big cats there. Jaguars weren't weak, but boy were they not the strongest either, not by a mile. Instead, the Tigers ruled that arena, showcasing dominating power as all the cats fought collectively to beat larger enemies.

And then they had been thrown back to Earth, only to quickly realise that what the Tigers showcased wasn't dominating power, rather what they were currently up against was. How many of his own had died by that time?

Now there was only a few hundred Jaguars left, at least those that he knew off, all camped here, struggling against the wretched spectres.

Sure, he could fight this Human and kill him. But at what cost?!

Were the lives of his remaining siblings worth it?

"What do you want, Human?" asked Serb, his words rough as he spoke. He was tired.

"A partnership."

"HARGHHARRRRRGHHARGH"

Raucous laughter thundered out of the Serb's mouth, a repetition of the start. His exhaustion was gone, replaced by a liveliness; this human had worked his way up to becoming a Human, and now had dropped back to being a human.