Chapter 34: The Instinct of a Predator
Rei's body refused to move.
His arms ached. His legs felt like lead.
He had trained for hours, but the results were always the same—failure.
Rei (panting, frustrated): "Damn it… Damn it!"
He threw a punch.
💥 Missed.
He tried to dodge an imaginary attack.
💥 Too slow.
His body was too weak. No matter how much he practiced human techniques, he would never match the others.
For the first time, he felt it—the possibility that he might never win.
And then—
He heard it.
A Small Encounter – The Cat That Moved Without Thinking
Rei's head turned.
A small black cat stood on the training hall window, staring at him with golden eyes.
Then—
It moved.
A single leaf fell from a nearby tree.
Before it could hit the ground—
💥 The cat's paw lashed out in an instant, striking it mid-air.
Rei's breath caught.
Rei (thinking, shocked): That speed…
The cat had barely moved.No hesitation. No wasted motion.
Just pure instinct.
Rei stared at the cat, fascinated.
It had no strength.It had no training.
But in that split second, it moved perfectly.
And suddenly—he understood.
Rei (whispering): "I've been doing this wrong."
A New Path – Training Like an Animal
For weeks, Rei had been trying to train like a human.
✔ He had copied martial arts techniques.✔ He had mimicked fighting stances.✔ He had studied footwork and strikes.
But humans fought with strength.
And he had none.
But animals didn't fight like humans.
They fought with instinct.
They fought with reflex.
And maybe—that was something he could do.
Rei crouched low.
He watched the cat, the way it moved, the way its body reacted before its mind even thought.
And then—he copied it.
✔ A quick step back.✔ A sudden shift in weight.✔ No wasted movement.
It felt strange.
It felt unnatural.
But for the first time—he didn't feel slow.
Rei (thinking, breathless): This… this might actually work.
And so, in the dead of night—
Rei Kurogane began training like a predator.
And he wouldn't stop.
Not until he could fight.