Crunch… Crunch…
A beast with all fours, lower its head, as its mouth and claws were covered with viscous blood, from the prey it was eating before its feet. From the blood's viscidity, the battle must have ended earlier with just one move. The carcass mustn't have expected that of all the prey that the predator could eye on, it was chosen.
As the predator enjoys its feast, it suddenly growls, it feels a presence that could threaten him. It was a rare occasion for the predator of its level could make him growl, when he growl – it means that an existence eyeing him as prey could threaten him.
He turned its head and saw a shadow walking towards him. The leaves of the branch of a tree shrouded the shadow's visible appearance from the sunlight, and only a silhouette could be seen: through its outline, the beast identified it was a human.
Growl…
He growls again to warn the human, but as if unperturbed. The man continued walking towards him casually as if its menacing growl didn't reach him. With a slight movement, the man's aura suddenly turned ferocious, accompanied by a golden lion with a crown manifested above him.
The tiger felt tense by Lion's sovereign aura, it felt like a king looking below him, challenging him to a duel. But the Tiger didn't refuse and was excited to finally have an opponent equivalent to his level.
He tried to warn the human, yet it didn't refuse, and even challenged him to a duel, with even had a lion manifested on its back. This shows that the human before him managed to kill a lion with a level comparable to him.
As he was so focused on the human's aura, his eagerness clouded his bestial mind, his claws continued coming out to the point it was gripping the earth. The crust, as if tofu, was sliced by its claws, while its canine two pairs of teeth, both ups and downs also protruded out of its mouth. His mouth was wide open since if he closes it, its lips would bleed from the sharpness of its teeth.
The blood in his mouth from the prey beside him has long been dried, and the three-pointed hair at both sides of his cheek was covered with blood. Its narrowly thin golden eyes, with a crimson-colored pupil, also expressed its menacing gaze on the human.
Feeling this, Clover's hair stood on end, as his back was drenched in a cold sweat. With his forelimbs downward – clutching the pair of daggers, he managed to calm his nervous mind as he was readying the battle that was about to begin.
The sun was about to set, which caused the forest to turn dim. The sunlight continued to pour into the forest, yet it never touched the ground, since it was blocked by the trees' leaves.
A shadow that outlines the shape of a human was walking slowly as if putting on the defense of something. Ahead of him, was a tall menacing yellow stripe tiger, with its claws firmly gripping to the ground, its canine teeth almost equivalent to the dagger's length of the human it was holding.
Its menacing gaze locked on the human as if the tiger would leap at any moment. Yet it was waiting for something, it was waiting for a thing that could be a signal to the start of their battle. The tails were wiggling enthusiastically, showing their eagerness for what was about to happen.
Growl…
The tiger growled again with a lower voice, its cheek with a pair of three hair coming out of it shivered alongside its growl. The space surrounding the tiger could be considered big since their nature like to hunt in solidarity. With this, the tiger felt comfortable with the arrangement, he didn't need to worry about running with trees slowing down its potential.
The small radius area felt like a battle arena in some gladius fight in a colosseum. The reason why the tiger didn't attack despite its eagerness, it's because the human hasn't yet stepped into the ring. It was waiting for him to show itself from the trees that covered its appearance.
Step…
Finally, the human shadow's appearance was fully exposed when it fully entered the ring. The tiger didn't leap to it yet, since it was still observing the human's physical appearance, and what it should be aware of. When the tiger evolve into a rank 1 beast, it received a little bit of sentience like a child but it fully trusted its bestial instinct.
With the help of its instinct, even though its mind was like a child, He managed to survive under the attack of a Crow which ranked higher than him. Other than that Crow, who made him feel like a chick, no one could make him feel threatened like now. The reason he didn't run, was because – although the human threaten him like the Crow it encountered earlier.
Was because the tiger knew that, compared to the crow; the human before him was just like a chick. Both of them were like a chick to the crow, which means that both of them were on the same level. The tiger wanted to prove that he was a predator, the strongest among the beast in the jungle.
All he meets were rabbits, an egoistic deer which was now a portion of food to him, lying beside him – dead, and some other beast below its level. Other than satisfying its stomach, they couldn't satisfy his desire to battle. Now that the chance appeared before him, he doesn't want to waste it.
Under the scrutinizing gaze, Clover feel that his situation was in jeopardy. But the more the situation was dangerous, the more he feels his mind was calmer than before. His consciousness wouldn't drift to some other dimension but was fully focused on the tiger's gaze.
He was also observing the tiger's flaw to activate his strongest trump card without waste, and scrutinizing the tiger's weapon of attack.
"A claw is higher in terms of my dagger's length (23cm), but its canine pair of teeth facing each other is comparable to my dagger's height. From the sight of his claw, the mud was sliced, like a fabric cut by a knife. Hmm… It's claw… I must be careful of it," He murmured under his breath, as he continued to analyze the tiger's stats.
He continued, "The tiger's canine teeth sharpness is still unknown, but from the fact that the tiger's mouth continued to open, to the point that its saliva uncontrollably dripped to the ground, the tiger must have felt afraid that its canine teeth sliced its lips. So the tiger's canine teeth and its claws… I should be careful of them."
And as he come to conclusion, he said with a bitter smile on his face, "Overall, I'm at disadvantage. In terms of mobility, it depends since the tiger's speed could be higher than mine, but if I retreated and used the terrain where trees are abundant, I could have the upper hand in the battle. It seems that that's the only way I can have a win."
Although the situation was against him, Clover was still optimistic and was trying to come up with a plan where he could have a chance of winning.
He still wanted to continue analyzing everything, when the tiger leaped into him without hesitation. The claws which were gripping from the crust before, which could cause stumbling, it was sliced like a sharp knife cutting into a mushy object.
"Well, I guess. I just have to win."
Crossing his forelimbs before his chest, he didn't back off to the trees and wanted to gain a better understanding of the tiger by testing it physically.