"Hey hey, look it was tiring, you know?"
Sitting chest out, Kiba gave a completely different impression from his words.
The boy blinked continuously as he looked at him with a strange expression.
"Can anyone know what the hell happened?" he couldn't help but ask.
Everything had unfolded so suddenly that both Rada and the tiger didn't understand anything that happened.
"I released all the power I had previously accumulated," Kiba explained while maintaining an indifferent air.
"I understood that too, you know. What I don't understand is how he could have died so easily!" Rada seemed almost annoyed as he said this.
Thinking back to the scene, there were a few things that were unclear, although Kiba hit the tiger in a vital spot, he thought the tiger would show some resistance, instead it died instantly.
Before answering, Kiba sighed, "It wasn't as easy as you think, when he was about to launch his attack, the power leaking out covered his entire body like armor. In that state it is difficult to penetrate his skin."
"Then how was this possible?" the doubts of Rada continued to grow.
"Luck!" replied Kiba in an aggressive tone.
"Luck!?" Rada's eyes went wide.
"That's right, it was difficult to kill him with an external attack, so when I launched myself at him. My power collided with his, causing him to explode from within," Kiba explained.
"I see, how did you know that would work?" Rada nodded initially.
"I didn't."
But he was stunned immediately after the pup's answer.
"That's why I said it was luck."
He was speechless for who knows how long, in the end what seemed like a perfect execution was nothing more than a lucky shot.
But in reality there was more, the tiger was well into the Metamorphosis Stage, thus more powerful than Kiba who had just entered it.
However, Kiba's innate power was far superior to that of the tiger.
Some beasts were perfectly capable of overpowering others, even at a lower evolutionary stage, thanks to their bloodline.
Kiba came from the divine wolves, there was even a legend about his ancestor, who was said to have reached the Divine Stage.
That was the main reason for their success, if the attack had come from any other beast its equal, the tiger wouldn't have even taken the hit and both Kiba and Rada would have been the victims.
"Sigh, there's still so much to learn..." Rada sighed.
His experience against the tiger was only the beginning of what was to come during the ordeal, he knew he couldn't rely on Kiba alone. So he plucked up courage and set about extracting the tiger's heart.
Thinking of digging inside the beast, he made a horrified face, but at that moment, he had another surprise. With his small, sharp claws, Kiba pulled out a kind of pale-colored crystal.
"Would this be the famous heart?" asked Rada in wonder.
"Yes, from the colour it looks like it was in the stage of Metamorphosis, but still far from evolving," Kiba explained.
"Oh, you can tell all that by looking at the crystal?" asked Rada again.
Thanks to his studies with Cody, he had a general understanding of the various beast stages. However, he had neither the experience nor the way to understand a beast's degree of power, a serious failing for where he was.
But there was nothing he could do about it; after all, he had very little time, so he relied on his vital companion for the time being.
Thanks to Kiba, Rada learned some of the differences between the various creatures of Aurora's world.
Such as the fact that each Stage was related to a colour: Embryonic - White; Metamorphosis - Grey; Hunter - Black; Slayer - Red; Dominator - Purple; Royal - Blue; Emperor - Green; Ascetic - Gold; Divine - Silver.
"Well, there doesn't seem to be anything else here, let's leave" the smell in the cave was really unbearable. He just felt like getting out and getting a breath of fresh air.
They had nothing more to do there, the tiger was dead, and they still had to reunite with Rei.
The two of them headed for the exit when suddenly Kiba sensed something.
(Oh no!) the cub turned back with an alarmed look.
(What's going on!?) asked Rada in a worried tone.
(He tricked me!) the puppy roared in frustration.
(What do you mean!?)
Rada continued to not understand what was going on.
(You still don't get it!? Could it be that you haven't noticed yet?)
Kiba stepped back a few paces and stood right next to Rada, the situation didn't look the best.
Concerned by Kiba's words, Rada began to focus on everything going on around him.
"Crack!"
Noise of bones that seemed to crumble against something, then:
"Hiss"
A hiss resounded through the cavern, and finally, two piercing eyes appeared from the darkness.
Rada's face lost all its former colour.
"A snake!"
A nightmare seemed to awaken within him, chills ran through his entire body, he was paralyzed with fear.
(Hey! Hey! What's wrong with you!) the voice of Kiba woke him up from the nightmare he was in.
"I-I hate snakes!" his voice trembled with tension, he was in a cold sweat. Not even the huge tiger from earlier aroused such a reaction in him.
(To hell with it! If we don't think of something, we're really going to die here!)
The situation seemed serious, Kiba had spent most of his power against the tiger, he wasn't able to handle another fight. Moreover, the aura he sensed was that of a creature in the final stage of metamorphosis, much more powerful than the tiger.
Behind the predator's piercing eyes was a long, thick, reticulated body, the colour of the aura it radiated was dark grey.
Evidently it was only a short time away from evolving to its next stage.
"A Royal Python!" the cub exclaimed.
It gritted its teeth at the python without any fear, the cub's fearless heart not reflecting its tiny size at all.
"All this time he's been hiding here, waiting for us to clash against the tiger, whatever the outcome, he would benefit, a brilliant plan indeed!"
Kiba's voice was full of indignation.
The beasts endowed with power were not stupid at all, in fact, many of them had an intelligence equal to that of any human.
"Oh God!"
Rada's face looked like someone who was about to have a nervous breakdown.
In addition to being one of her greatest fears, the beast before their eyes was a feared predator, capable of ambushes worthy of the most cunning of minds.
Cruel and ruthless, the Royal Python of Aurora's world was well known for its innate ability to set traps for its victims and kill them without the slightest effort.