Renegade's Dominion

Ty steadied himself on a sturdy treetop, claws gripping the rough bark for balance. Above him, the aerial predator hovered like a sentinel of the skies, the majestic white lion. Sunlight glinted off its pristine feathers with each movement of its wings stirring the air in measured, powerful beats. Its golden eyes locked onto him, cold and unyielding.

The lion's jaw parted, and a roar split the forest. The sound wasn't just noise, it was force, an overwhelming declaration of dominance that rattled the leaves and sent nearby birds scattering in panic. Any lesser creature would have fled immediately.

But Ty was no lesser creature.

He answered with his own voice, the Elder's Howl, a deep, resonant cry that carried the weight of his will. It wasn't just a sound; it was a statement. A refusal to back down. His howl rose through the air like a challenge carved into stone, meeting the lion's roar head-on.

Two declarations of war. Two predators unwilling to yield.

The white lion moved first. Its wings snapped with sharp precision, and in an instant, the air between them was filled with death. Long, rigid feathers launched like a volley of spears, slicing through the wind toward him.

Ty sprang aside, his movements a blur from one treetop to the next. Feathers hissed past him, some embedding deep into the wood with alarming force, others shredding branches as if they were paper.

'Long-range projectiles too?'

Instead of discouragement, excitement flickered through him. This creature was armed with a versatility he could only admire. Muscle, claws, fangs… and ranged capabilities? The more he saw, the more his hunger to claim its form grew.

The barrage showed no sign of stopping. Each shot was swift, precise, and relentless, tracking his every movement with uncanny accuracy. Ty had no choice but to keep moving, knowing that slowing even for a second meant impalement.

Persistent… very persistent.

Still, he understood this couldn't continue indefinitely. The longer he remained on the defensive, the greater the risk. It was time to break the pattern.

He dropped lower, weaving between trunks, using the dense canopy as cover. If the lion couldn't see him clearly, perhaps it would stop. That was the plan, but it didn't take long to realize he had underestimated his opponent.

As he bounded down a trunk, instincts screamed. Without hesitation, he leapt further than intended, clearing an extra stretch of forest floor.

A heartbeat later, the space he'd just vacated erupted.

The tree he'd been on was sheared in half, the splintered remains raining down alongside clumps of shattered bark. A crater gouged into the earth below marked the impact point of… something.

Again, his instincts flared, dragging him into another leap just in time for a second strike to obliterate where he'd been standing.

The third attempt finally revealed the truth. From above, the lion was unleashing compressed bursts of air, each forming a tight, circular wave before detonating downward with destructive force. The pressure alone was enough to smash trees like brittle twigs.

Ty's lips pulled back in a grin.

'Wind manipulation? Interesting… very interesting.'

So the white lion was not just a flier or a marksman, it was a master of the sky's own weaponry. All the more reason Ty had to take this form for himself.

But if he kept running, even he wouldn't dodge forever. It was time to shift the rhythm of the hunt.

He pushed forward, weaving between collapsing trunks and flying debris, never allowing himself to stay in one spot for more than an instant. Then he surged upward again, using his incredible momentum to bound from branch to branch until he reached the upper canopy.

The white lion was there, circling, its eyes sharp with awareness.

'Prefers distance fighting over close range' Ty deduced with disappointment, 'Why rely on claws and muscle when you can kill without touching?'

It could mean two things: either arrogance in its dominance at range… or wariness of getting too close to a foe who might wound it. Either way, it was a vulnerability Ty could exploit.

He picked a branch thick enough to bear his weight, crouching low. But the lion wasn't about to let him settle. Another blast of compressed wind screamed toward him, forcing him into a rapid sidestep, then another, and another still.

As he moved, Ty began working on something new, a gamble, but one worth taking.

Aura.

The Elder Goblin's lessons came back to him in fragments. Aura wasn't just a measure of strength; it was an energy akin to mana for mages, that could be shaped and directed. Warriors wielded it in battle as naturally as breathing. If magic could create fire or shape the wind, could aura itself be formed into a tangible weapon?

It was a theory… one he intended to test.

He focused inward, drawing on his core. Aura flowed from his center, hot and heavy, a weight in his chest that he coaxed toward his right side. He kept it locked there, refusing to let it seep across his frame. Each jump from treetop to treetop became harder, the pressure within his claw mounting like a storm.

The energy fought against him, threatening to lash out prematurely, to burst free without shape or control. His jaw clenched. He forced it to stay, channeling it solely into his right claw.

By the time he had it coiled tightly enough to feel almost solid, his muscles trembled from the strain. The lion, still high and graceful in the air, was preoccupied with its barrage.

There — a momentary opening.

Ty's lips formed into a wolfish smirk, exposing sharp fangs. He twisted, aligning his body mid-leap, and then released everything he had built up.

The aura tore free through his claw, the physical strike serving as a conduit, shaping the energy into a massive, black spectral claw that ripped through the air. It traveled faster than sight, slamming into the white lion with a resonant impact that echoed across the treetops.

A spray of white feathers burst outward.

The lion's form jolted mid-flight, forced to adjust its wingbeats to stay aloft. It had been hit, truly hit for perhaps the first time in this duel.

[Notice! Due to individual's action, you have acquired the Extra Skill: Aura Manipulation.]

A rush of exhilaration flooded him.

'It worked.'

The theory had become reality. Not only had he landed a clean strike, but he had awakened a skill that could change the way he fought forever. The corners of his mouth lifted higher, satisfaction gleaming in his eyes.

The hunt had just truly begun for Ty!