A Worthy Hunt (2)

From his information, Lyonires have two major facets that set them apart from other large predatory cats. For one, as weird as it should be for predators with darker fur, they primarily hunt in the day; their vision at night tends to be much worse due to the bright lines that glow underneath their skin that nearly blinds them from proximity.

The second, more important fact, is that they can generate enough electricity to stop a man's heart forty times over.

Jason belatedly put that piece of information to the front of his mind as he ducked under a wild swing of the beast's massive whisker. The wind whistled above his head, carrying the distinct sound of passing thunder. Even just grazing the appendage sent a shiver of thrill and static down the teen's spine.

The trees nearby, however, were not so lucky.

They didn't snap so much as explode on contact with the whiskers. The sheer amount of electricity that went through them caused the water in the trees to reach boiling point in an instant, and the deafening booms shook Jason to the bone as he was forced to dive out of the way of the larger high-speed shards that flew from the tree's remains.

It wouldn't do much beyond a large bruise, but they would definitely ruin his clothes.

The teenage hunter's knees scraped along the dirt and debris that littered the floor, leaning out of the way as the Lyonire's front legs rose up into the air. Its massive whiskers were dragged up into the air before they cracked down like bolts of lightning.

A high-pitched whine of electricity rang in his ears, and while he hid the wince to the sheer sound, the real danger was the light that broke the night. Every movement of the Lyonire carried with it a flash of blinding light, tracing lines within the dim lighting. With how fast the beast was, it wouldn't be long before Jason's vision was covered in phantom lines that ruined his nightvision.

Despite that, Jason's grin only grew larger. His heart pumped hard within his chest, filling his limbs with more and more strength. Four large channels that lay next to his heart funneled energy from the Abyss into his body, causing him to move fast enough to keep up with the rapid movements of the Lyonire.

The Lyonire's whiskers swiped at him, cracking the air like whips as he dodged. However, Jason never went in as its movements stalled and rocked to build up enough momentum for the next attack.

Static filled the air, causing the hair on his arms to rise and his skin to tingle. It was a precursor to something much more dangerous. Something he read about in all his father's journals of the dangers in hunting creatures with access to the energy of the Abyss, or mana.

The key point was that this conflict was happening in its den; a place that allowed the Lyonire to more easily replace the neutral energy in the air with something more along its own nature. Arcs of bright energy seemed to spark between the Lyonire's whiskers and random spots in the air and ground.

Jason had seen energy coils before, a way that people transferred billions of watts of electricity through different nodes in minutes. The sound from them were always muffled somewhat, but they were akin to thousands of insects buzzing at the same time. As the air continued to be filled with static, Jason couldn't help but compare the energy coils with the beast's whiskers.

As if to add on the issue, Jason felt the channels next to his heart tremble and twitch with every breath. For once, his smile stilled a bit as he stopped refilling his Mana reserves with more energy from the air. He knew the longer this lasted the more the air would fill with the beast's energy, effectively removing his option of refilling his own Mana.

"I guess I'll make do." Jason mused aloud, clearing his mind as he took in all the information he needed.

His dad always said that all hunters needed to be prepared for every hunt. Know your opponent's habits, abilities, and skills, and there isn't a beast you can't hunt.

Of course, Jason never said he was a great hunter. In fact, he was often called a horrible one. He never had the time nor patience to really log everything about an enemy, but after he awakened, he gained the ability to remove some of the boring processes.

Instead, he always studied his opponents in the heat of the moment. Every action they took, how they positioned themselves after an attack, their attention to their surroundings, and how they responded to threats.

Jason's hands reached to his lower back, yanking out the half foot-long hunting knives from their sheathes. They were lighter than he liked, even lighter now that he awakened, but his dad had said that they were all a hunter needed sometimes.

Immediately, the Lyonire jumped back at the first sign of aggression. The air still crackled dangerously, igniting dry leaves that were promptly stomped out by the beast.

In the growing heat, Jason gathered his mana, forcing it through his body to try and direct it to his legs. His shoddy technique worked somewhat, and his feet pushed deep into the soft forest dirt. Then, the floor exploded as he took off.

Dirt flew into the air as his feet ate the distance between him and the Lyonire. Every twitch of its muscles landed in his sight as he followed the beast's gaze.

It hadn't moved after the air began to churn with its mana, and Jason knew that it didn't need to. Jason had no experience in dealing with such a thing yet, so he only knew most of the information through stories and notes from other hunters. That the longer anyone, man or beast, accumulated enough Mana in the environment, the less likely it was for their opponents to win in a fight.

Jason felt it as soon as he crossed the threshold of the beast's area. The air seemed almost alive; like he had stepped too close to a live wire and his hair stood on end while he felt like someone was running needlepoints across his skin.

The knives in his hands had it worse. It happened so fast that he didn't have time to fully comprehend what happened. All he felt were how fast the handles grew hot before his instincts told him to throw them to his sides.

The second after he did, two bright flashes of light engulfed his eyes, blinding him. Searing heat washed over his skin and screeching energy stole his hearing, flaring near enough to let him know just how lucky he had been.

Sweat and adrenaline coated his back. Jason already knew what had happened, and he had already watched the Lyonire as it attacked him. It was an ambush predator by trade. Right now would be the perfect time to strike.

Information played back in his head. The beast had a short, stubby tail, leading it to become unbalanced easily due to its massive whiskers. As for how it attacked…

Jason jumped up, tucking his knees to his chest as he trusted his short sprint to carry him. Below him, he felt the wind whip tightly against the soles of his shoes, almost pulling him off course.

He couldn't see it, but the hunter knew it. The beast had leaned forward to attack; a large, sweeping attack that simply needed to touch him to cause damage.

Yet, the consequences of a miss were unavoidable.

Jason shot his feet forward, going parallel with the floor. He felt his shoe connect with something, and he grinned as something snapped underfoot.

His back slammed painfully into the floor as gravity took him, and the hunter hurriedly rolled up, blinking the bright spots out of his eyes. It hadn't been that long, but he knew he wouldn't have that much respite.

To make matters worse, he felt his arms and legs twitch slightly. The static in the air whizzed dangerously as his vision finally came back.

"Shit!"

Jason tossed himself to the side as the Lyonire's jaws narrowly missed his head, and he felt a chill down his spine as its claws barely graced his right shoulder as it passed overhead, slicing cleanly through his clothes. A sharp spike of pain flared across his shoulder, telling him that he had been wounded.

Still, he didn't have time to check the damage as he forced himself up to get out of the way of the long whiskers that trailed nearby.

The young hunter took a moment to breathe as the beast stalked away between the trees, watching him warily. Its face was bloody with the left side of its skull sunken in, its eye crushed. A testament to both its ability to take damage and ignore it.

Jason grinned slightly, hissing as he dipped his fingertips into the wound on his shoulder. It hadn't been that deep, but the wound along with the slowly increasing static in the air told him all he needed to be certain that he shouldn't keep the fight going long.

He had to finish this faster.

Urging himself, Jason rushed the Lyonire, staying more on its left side. It swiped at him with its whiskers, but he just dodged it easily, swaying his upper body just enough for the appendage to miss him.

As it grew unbalanced, Jason snapped forward and rushed in. His hand reached out, grabbed a handful of its fur, and swung his body onto its large back. The large cat bucked wildly, charging off into the forest as soon as he touched its back and leaving the area coated in its mana.

Jason greedily sucked in the air, feeling the channels next to his heart pulse with every breath. He winced as his legs clamped to the sides and rubbed against its coarse fur, and he had to bite his lip hard as the electrified whiskers bounced against his pants every now and then. They didn't stay long enough to shock him unconscious, but it was enough to send small jolts of pain that forced their way through his legs and up his spine.

Gritting his teeth, Jason struck the Lyonire's head, aiming for the already wounded part. Mana strengthened his limbs, and every hit caused the beast to screech and tremble.

"Just!" Jason enunciated as he struck. "Stay!" his hand pressed deeper into the wound, and he felt something give way. The Lyonire crazily charged into a tree, knocking the breath out of the teen as the two collided. However, Jason clung on desperately, knowing that this was his chance to end this.

Electricity shot through his body as a whisker made contact with his fist. His skin blackened instantly and Jason tried not to scream as he stuck again.

"Down!" The teen yelled, bringing one fist down as his wounded one was cradled next to his chest.

With his last grunt, his hand broke through and he reached something soft. Instantly, the Lyonire stilled and fell to the ground, slumping over motionlessly.

Jason fell forward, rolling off the beast and landing on his back on the ground. His wounds itched, and the teen knew that he was going to be hurting for the next couple of days as they healed.

Groaning in exhaustion and pain, Jason turned to look at the mangled head of the beast he had just killed. It was fascinating in a gruesome way; blood and bits of white skull peaked out from its black fur as the electricity in its whiskers petered out into a low whine. The bright white lines on its face and back dimmed rapidly, like someone had turned down the intensity a couple of notches.

Despite his pain and injuries, the young hunter grinned before his chest dipped in a full-body laugh, agitating his injuries more. However, he didn't care as he chuckled happily on his successful —sort-of— hunt.

"Haha! Hell yeah!" He cheered from the floor, staring up into the night sky. It was broken up by the white lines that made up most of the World Cage, but he still enjoyed the scene that appeared behind.

A roiling mass of different shades of black and gray interspersed with pinpricks of colorful light that blinked in and out of existence. The Abyss had always been something that was beautiful as much as it was scary and mysterious.

He was so giddy that it took him a couple seconds to hear the loud notifications from the Holo on his wrist. Idly, he looked over before fear suddenly gripped his heart.

"Seven missed calls from Mom." The Holo helpfully supplied. As if that wasn't enough, it began to blink rapidly. The signs of another call.

Jason carefully and skillfully turned the Holo off.