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The forest pulsed with life around Yuki as he moved stealthily beneath the towering boughs. The aftermath of his battle with the **Daggerfang Matron** still echoed through his mind—a thrilling clash of instincts, speed, and precise brutality. Her venom still clung to some of his scales, hissing faintly before burning away under the low flame of his activated **Flame Clad**.
That victory had changed him.
He was no longer a vulnerable hatchling scouring for scraps. The moment he tore through the Daggerfang Matron's serpentine body, his instincts had shifted. Mana coursed more freely through his veins. His wings no longer trembled in short bursts of unstable flight—they now flared with strength. His body had grown, his horns thickened, his senses sharper.
**Predator's Wisdom** pulsed in his mind like a second heart.
> **"Mana signature: anomalous movement detected. Three entities. Cloaked. Estimated threat: low-mid."**
Yuki's narrowed pupils locked on the shaded ridge ahead. The terrain was damp and dark, perfect cover for lurking predators.
He crouched, activating **Mana Sense**. His field of perception widened—there they were. Faint distortions in the flow of surrounding aether.
They struck without warning.
From the gloom leapt three **Blightcap Crawlers**—grotesque insectoid creatures with mushroom-ridden exoskeletons. One scuttled up a tree and launched itself from above, mandibles bared.
Yuki's body moved before thought. He pivoted and slashed upward, his claws trailing heat. The crawler burst open mid-air, spores puffing outward in a toxic cloud.
The second came from the right. Yuki turned his neck and exhaled a stream of his **Flame Sovereign's Breath**, now hotter and more refined than before. The crawler ignited in mid-sprint, tumbling end over end before crashing, smoldering, into a mossy stump.
The third lunged from below the roots—but Yuki's **Flight Mastery** and new balance control let him launch vertically with a powerful beat of his wings. He flipped mid-air and twisted, tail blazing as he struck downward.
**CRACK.**
The crawler's shell shattered under the flaming strike, and its twitching body rolled aside.
**Predator's Wisdom: Threats neutralized. Scanning…**
> **New traits detected in enemy remains. Absorbable traits: \[Spore Resistance (Low Tier)], \[Toxic Tendril Generation (Low Tier)]**
Yuki absorbed them without hesitation. The low-tier resistance settled easily in his body, hardening his immune flow. But the tendrils… they stirred something in him.
A fusion prompt pulsed across his mind:
> **Skill Fusion Option Detected:**
> \[Toxic Tendril Generation] + \[Flame Clad] → **\[Scorching Tendril Lash]**
He accepted.
Heat and poison warred inside his veins for a brief moment. Then, fire won—but not fully. The tendrils reshaped, adapting to fire while retaining their venomous nature.
> **Skill Acquired: Scorching Tendril Lash**
> – Extend fire-coated tendrils from forelimbs. Burn and bind enemies; retain venom for double impact.
Yuki gave an experimental flick of his claws. Two blazing, whip-like tendrils lashed from beneath his scales, carving into a tree before retracting. He growled in satisfaction.
He glanced around. The forest had fallen silent again, small creatures gone still. He was no longer simply one of the forest's beasts. After defeating the **Daggerfang Matron**, he had become something more.
His next steps were no longer uncertain. His path was forming—through fire, instinct, and hunger.
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