Primal Authority

Mike found himself in a strange place.

His body felt strange. Like it was there, but also wasn't.

He was on all fours.

The forest smelled nice.

So did the moon.

He smelled prey.

He found it. A single deer in a clearing, it's fine coat glistening against the moonlight.

It was beautiful.

He killed it.

He ate it.

It tasted good.

He smelled more.

He found them.

He killed them all.

He felt tired.

He felt gazes.

None of them dared to approach.

He returned to his cave.

He hadn't moved.

He simply willed himself to be there.

The world obeyed. Distance cowering.

He lay down.

He could see his white fur and ivory claws.

He blinked.

The sky became visible.

He exhaled.

Trees bowed. Shadows knelt. The air stilled.

It felt right.

***

Mike's eyes snapped open, and he took a deep breath.

His vision was bleary for a few seconds, and his mind was also filled with fog. However, shortly after, he suddenly felt several small bodies on top of his, as well as several cold and wet things drag across his face.

It took him a moment to realize they were tongues, and it's about that time that his mind and eyes cleared up enough for him to recognize the several wolf pups parading him happily.

'Ugh.' He winced as he sat up. His entire body throbbed painfully, but it wasn't something he couldn't bear.

Still, he didn't need his instincts to tell him that using his energy in any way right now was a bad idea.

With a sigh, he picked up one of the pups and felt it go limp in his grasp as he slowly stroked behind his ear, and that's when he finally looked around.

He was back in the cave, and it didn't look any different from when he'd left other than the rays of sunlight that seemed through the entrance.

'How long have I been unconscious?' He thought as he closed his eyes, trying to remember.

'It was... around the beginning of the night when I set out. It took me around an hour to get to Kris due to being delayed... the fight with that thing took... wait, what am I even thinking about right now?' He shook his head. It didn't take a genius to realize that he'd been unconscious due to his body needing to regenerate its energy. After all, the system said that was one main way Lupines recovered from energy exhaustion.

No, what was more concerning...

'Where are the others?' He thought.

There were a few wolves in the cave, but they were mostly pregnant females and a few males to protect them. He sniffed the air once, then twice, and he looked towards the entrance.

'They must have gone hunting.' He concluded. Part of him wanted to stand and find them, but to be frank, he wasn't in fighting condition. Or at the very least, he wouldn't be able to bring out 100% of his strength as he was right now. After all, even if he tried to put it nicely, the simple fact was that his energy pathways were fried, and trying to mobilize even a bit of energy would feel like running hot magma through his veins.

"... Wouldn't be the first time, then." He mumbled with a derisive smile.

That said...

'It was... fun.'

As much as his body hurt, he couldn't deny the deep sense of satisfaction he felt that seemed to soak through his bones. It felt far better than when you eat a hearty meal and rest. It was borderline cathartic, and he knew why.

The battle... no, the hunt of the Rat King was his most successful one to date. Even if he hadn't received any tangible gains from the fight, this feeling alone made him want to do something like that again.

'It's a shame I couldn't eat it, though.' He sighed.

... Speaking of gains.

After a moment's hesitation, he pulled up his stat window.

STATS

[Name]: Mike

[Age]: 17

[Race]: Lupine

[Level]: 22

---

STATS

Strength: 144.4 (+10)

Agility: 123.4

Endurance: 165.2 (+10)

Vitality: 158.4

Perception: 162.2

Allocatable Stat Points: 12

Ferocity: 17% (stable)

'Another four levels.' Mike thought with a slight smile. One might think only three levels were a bit small, considering how tough the battle had been. But to Mike, it was already good enough.

'That means... wait a minute.' Mike frowned.

He leveled up three times, so that's 12 free stat points, which were clearly untouched. Each level gave him 3 stats, but the numbers were adding up.

In fact, they were a lot higher than they should have been.

'Wait... what? There wasn't a corpse to eat, though. So how...' Mike frowned. He blacked out after the fight ended, so he didn't know what happened after. All he knew was that....

'Oh, right. The core.' He suddenly realized. He was still holding the Rat King's core before everything went black.

Had he eaten it?

'Did Kris see me?' He suddenly felt a surge of nervousness.

Humans couldn't consume beast cores for a myriad of reasons. As such, they could only be used in the creation of equipment and powering technology. If Kris had seen him...

"Sigh." Mike blew out a breath.

'If that's really the case... then there isn't much to be done about it.' If he'd seen it, then he'd seen it. He could only hope that nothing bad came out of it.

Then again, his gut said it'd be fine, so he decided not to worry too much.

"Huu, okay." Mike took a breath and continued to look through his stats. He first looked at his aura, and the description hadn't changed, which wasn't surprising.

He'd gotten a level from condensing it into liquid form, which he felt like was already pretty good. Still, he couldn't help but think back to what Theresa said concerning the whole Juvenile Spurt Theory.

It was just the second day, but Mike had improved more in this one day than he had since he joined Eventide. Whether it was the availability of creatures for him to use Hunter's Banquet to devour or just fight to improve his skills. The pressure of going up against powerful opponents was simply euphoric, and the gains from each battle were tangible.

'How much will I improve by the end of the month?' Mike couldn't help but feel excited.

Still, there was time until then. So for now, he–

'Hm?' Mike blinked, and then his eyes widened.

'H-Hold on!'

[Primal Dread – A skill born from the instinctive will of the Heart of the Lupine. Allows the Host to project his aura as an oppressive field, suppressing surrounding energy and enforcing instinctive submission on nearby beings. Those caught in its range feel as though they are prey before a true apex predator.

The potency of Primal Dread scales with the Host's Ferocity, aura output, and killing intent.]

→

[Primal Authority – A skill born from the will of the apex and the evolution of the predator's instinct into dominion itself.

No longer does the Host merely evoke fear, he enforces it.

By channeling his aura as an extension of his will, the Host asserts absolute supremacy over the surrounding world. Within this field, all energy, will, and emotion are bent beneath his presence. Weaker wills collapse instantly, and even those who resist find their power distorted and subdued as their bodies remember what it means to kneel.

When activated, Primal Authority assaults the psyche directly, forcing the target to perceive the Host as an undeniable truth, an apex before which resistance is meaningless. Those with fragile minds may fall into instinctive despair, their souls surrendering before their bodies do.

At its peak, words spoken under Primal Authority carry weight. They become laws that imprint upon the target's spirit, capable of compelling obedience or death itself, provided the disparity in will and power is sufficient.

The field of suppression now transcends aura alone, extending its influence to all forms of energy, devouring and silencing hostile flows that dare oppose the Host's will.

The world does not move unless the predator allows it to.

Scales with: Willpower, Ferocity, and Aura Output.

Secondary Effects: Dramatic suppression of hostile energy within the field. Mental debilitation (Fear, Despair, Obedience) based on difference in Willpower. Words spoken under the skill may manifest as Commands of Instinct.]

Mike set the wolf pup down slowly as he stared at the notification window with an unreadable expression

'... This is literally just a new ability!' He shouted inwardly as he ran a hand through his hair, his gaze incredulous.

A part of him had expected a change to Primal Dread. After all, the running theme for upgrading his skills seemed to be him using them in new ways that made them scale above how he'd normally use them. But this...

'This is insane.' He shook his head with disbelief

If this description was true–and the system had yet to directly lie to him about this stuff–then this was probably his most potent skill that wasn't an ability.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.