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The wind carried secrets now.
Yuki prowled through the deeper glades of the forest, where the trees grew tall and twisted, their bark etched with silvery glyphs. Faint gusts whispered along the branches—subtle but persistent—as if guiding him toward something buried beneath the ancient roots.
He paused near a cluster of gnarled stones.
His claws sank into the mossy earth. Mana flowed more cleanly now, sharper. Controlled. Since the fight with the Hollowfang, his movement had become quieter, swifter. His vision adapted to shadows more easily, the world painted in clearer contrasts.
More than that—**Predator's Wisdom** no longer just nudged his instincts.
It *spoke*.
> *"Observe. Adapt. Mimic. Dominate."*
Not words… more like emotional pulses, wrapped in meaning.
A flicker ahead caught his attention.
Three low forms emerged from the underbrush—**Daggerfang Lizards**. Scaled in green-gray plating, their bodies rippled with coiled muscle. Their fangs shimmered faintly, coated with a translucent venom. One hissed, the other two circling like coordinated hunters.
A perfect test.
Yuki narrowed his eyes. They were fast—but he was no longer the hatchling from a few weeks ago. His stance lowered slightly, wings folded tight, tail sweeping behind like a coiled whip.
The first lunged.
Yuki didn't block. Instead, his body flickered, warping with a surge of instinct as **Shadow Slip** triggered—a shimmer in the air, a blur of scale and smoke.
He reappeared behind the lizard in a blink, his claw already descending.
*Hit confirmed.*
The strike shattered the lizard's back leg, sending it sprawling with a screech. Before it could recover, Yuki spun, exhaling a thin line of **Flame Sovereign's Breath** that seared across the second attacker's chest. The fire was cleaner now—sharper. Not brute heat, but focused power.
The third hissed and charged.
*Too direct*, Yuki thought.
He dropped low, ducking under the snap of its jaws, and slashed upward, claws igniting with **Flame Clad**. The attack carved through its underbelly, spraying sizzling ichor across the moss.
The remaining two tried to retreat—but Yuki wouldn't allow it.
**Dragon's Instinct (Passive)** pulsed inside him, a hunter's rhythm syncing with the world. His legs coiled, and he burst forward, wings giving a sudden thrust of air behind him. **Wind Veil** wrapped his motion, narrowing his profile, reducing air resistance.
One claw, one motion.
The last lizard fell, body twitching in a heap of charred bone and blood.
*Enemies eliminated. Essence absorbed.*
*Skill Proficiency Up: \[Shadow Slip I > II]*
*Skill Proficiency Up: \[Wind Veil I > II]*
Yuki let out a low breath. His muscles vibrated slightly—faint resonance with wind again. It didn't yet form spells, but the affinity was growing. From what Predator's Wisdom hinted at, the element was responding to **motion**, not raw mana.
*If fire was force, then wind was precision.*
As he stepped over the corpses, he noticed something odd.
One of the fallen lizards had a shimmer inside its chest cavity. Curious, Yuki extended a claw and touched it.
*You have acquired: \[Lesser Wind Core Fragment]*
*You have acquired: Skill Seed – \[Wind Echo Pulse]*
He froze.
His instincts screamed. The forest… shifted.
A tremor echoed under his feet. From deep in the grove came a roar—not of beast, but **territorial rage**. Trees shuddered, and from the far ridge, a large creature began to emerge. Branches cracked. Leaves scattered.
A **Daggerfang Matron**—at least five times larger than the ones he'd fought—its fangs curved like daggers forged from obsidian. Its tail was ridged with sharp bone-plates, and along its throat, faint green vapor leaked with every breath.
The air became heavy. The wind pulled away.
Yuki lowered his stance.
He was not surprised. He had intruded on its domain.
But this time, he did not feel fear.
He felt ready.
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