Three hundred meters to the east.
A warthog burst from behind a low dune, thick hide scarred, tusks curved and yellowed, its bulk heavy but fast enough to crush a careless fighter. Circle of Body. Strong. Aggressive. Charging something unseen.
Bahamut saw it the instant his eyes finished changing.
His body moved before thought could catch up.
The ground detonated beneath his feet as he launched forward. Not a sprint. A shot. His frame folded into motion, every joint working in brutal harmony. Air screamed past him. Sand exploded behind him in a long, trailing scar.
The warthog barely had time to turn its head.
Bahamut hit it head-on.
His shoulder slammed into its skull with a dry, bone-cracking impact. The beast lifted clean off the ground, its mass meaningless against the force driving into it. Tusks shattered. The neck bent at a wrong angle. Momentum carried them both forward for a fraction of a second before Bahamut twisted mid-stride and released.
The warthog crashed into a huge tree and did not get back up.
Bahamut skidded to a stop several meters away, claws digging furrows into the ground. He straightened slowly, golden eyes still glowing, chest rising and falling with controlled breaths. Blood trickled down his temple, warm against his cheek, but his focus never wavered.
He turned his head slightly, scanning the horizon again.
With eyes like these, nothing nearby stayed hidden for long.
...
Bahamut tightened his grip on the rope of sinew wrapped around the warthog's hind leg and leaned forward, feet sinking slightly into the damp forest as he dragged the carcass behind him. The beast was heavy, dead weight resisting every step, its coarse hide scraping bark and stone as it slid along. Leaves were crushed beneath it, branches snapping with dull cracks, the sound carrying softly through the trees.
Perched proudly atop the warthog's broad back was Ren.
The small white bunny sat upright like a tiny king on a throne of meat, ears twitching as he looked around with lazy curiosity. One paw rested on the warthog's bristly hide for balance, the other occasionally lifting to gesture as he spoke.
"I still think you should have aimed for something smaller," Ren said, nose twitching. "That thing could feed a village. Or three."
Bahamut exhaled slowly, not stopping. "You said you were hungry."
"You said you were hungry. Your stomach growled in hunger," Ren corrected. "I am a little hungry, but this is excessive."
Bahamut's lips twitched faintly. "You didn't complain when you climbed on."
Ren puffed out his chest. "Leadership requires presence."
They moved deeper into the forest, light filtering through tall canopies in fractured beams. The air smelled of sap, blood, and damp earth. Bahamut's golden eyes swept the surroundings in steady arcs, missing little but not everything. Survival sharpened the senses, but the world was still vast, cluttered with life and concealment.
Somewhere not far away, unseen and unheard by them, a low tree sagged under its own thick leaves.
A massive trunk stood between paths like a silent wall.
And beneath that canopy, Exildra lay slumped against bark, eyes half closed, breath shallow but steady. Pain throbbed through her body in slow, relentless pulses, each one reminding her she was still alive. She had wrapped torn cloth tightly around her stomach, the fabric already soaked through again, though the bleeding had slowed to a manageable trickle.
She froze when she felt it.
Not sound. Not movement she could see.
Presence.
Her fingers tightened around the claw resting across her lap. Her eyes slid open, pupils narrowing as she strained her senses outward. She sensed footsteps and the sound of something being dragged.
Passing through.
Her breath hitched as unfamiliar pressure brushed against her awareness, not hostile, not gentle either. Just powerful and controlled, paired with something small.
People.
Her jaw clenched. For a heartbeat, instinct screamed at her to rise, to move, to hide deeper. But her body refused. She stayed still, muscles locked, breath shallow, letting the forest swallow her presence.
On the other side of the tree line, Bahamut slowed slightly as the ground dipped.
Ren's ears flicked. "Something smells like blood."
Bahamut glanced down at the warthog. "That would be this."
Ren sniffed again, head tilting. "Different blood."
Bahamut paused for half a second, eyes sweeping across a dense wall of leaves and twisted roots ahead. Nothing moved. Nothing revealed itself. The forest remained quiet, layered with ordinary sounds of insects and distant calls.
After a moment, he resumed walking.
"Forest is full of injured things," he said calmly. "Doesn't mean they want to be found."
Ren considered that, then nodded. "Fair."
They veered slightly to the left, following a natural slope that curved away, the warthog's body dragging a fresh line through moss and soil. Branches closed behind them as they passed, leaves settling back into place, erasing signs almost as quickly as they were made.
Behind the thick trunk, Exildra exhaled shakily.
She waited, counting her breaths, and listened.
The presence faded, pressure lifting like a storm moving on. Whatever had passed by did not linger.
She slumped back against the tree, eyes closing again.
"Probably another contestant," she muttered weakly, more to convince herself than anything else.
Her grip on the claw loosened slightly as exhaustion dragged at her consciousness. Whoever it had been, they were gone now, their path bending away, separated by wood, leaf, and chance.
The forest swallowed them both, carrying each forward on different lines that would not meet again. Hopefully.
...
Far from the forest Exildra and Bahamut were in, in a room full of high-ranking people, the elders of the Shadow Fang Sect contemplated what was happening.
"Did you intentionally do that, Derek? Sending him so close to another participant?" Caron asked with a mischievous smile.
"It wasn't. Who would have thought he would be strong enough to defeat two Circle of Spirit beasts? Even his pet is strong enough to take on Circle of Body beasts," Derek answered with a tired sigh.
They were all watching the trial, and a lot of people had surprised them. Like Gabi, who was voted to be the first to be taken out of the first, only for him to last very long, and even terrorize some beasts in his area.
Or Lily, who had achieved partial beast form before even reaching Circle of Initiation or Tier 2.
Or Sel, who had killed three more poison ivies.
A lot of the contestants had really surprised them, but Bahamut was still an enigma to them, and he hadn't even done any big fight yet.
They just couldn't wait.