[Would you like to purchase 5 Stamina Regeneration Serums?]

[Costs 1000 Sp per unit. 5000 Sp in total]

[Confirm Purchase: Yes / No]

Earlier, while evading the beast’s very first charge, Jayden had asked Luna to queue up the purchase for five stamina regeneration serums.

He instantly selected yes.

[Purchase Complete! 5x Stamina Regeneration Serum added to inventory]

Jayden pulled one out immediately.

The transaction cleared, and a glass vial filled with glowing blue liquid materialized in his hand. He popped the cork with his thumb and downed the serum in a single gulp.

The effect was instantaneous. A rushing, cooling sensation exploded from his stomach, flooding his veins with pure, unadulterated energy. His lungs expanded, his muscles tightened, and the dizzying fog in his head vanished entirely.

[Stamina: 337/337]

His depleted stamina bar refilled in the blink of an eye, and thanks to the accelerated healing factor tied to his speed stat, the gash on his forehead knit itself shut.

By the time the white beast pushed itself back up to its feet with a furious, blood-curdling roar, Jayden was already standing at full height.

He was back to 100%.

Jayden smiled. He began bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet, rolling his shoulders with a wide, dangerous grin. The white leader tilted its heavy head, wary of the sudden shift in demeanor. Then....

FWOOSH.

Both of Jayden’s fists erupted into blinding, roaring flames.

The beast growled, taking a cautious step back.

"Okay," Jayden smirked, his eyes glowing. "Let’s try this again."

Then, he vanished.

There was no sonic boom, no warning—just a violent blur of displaced air. The Earth Smasher leader didn’t even have time to blink. One microsecond Jayden was fifty feet away; the next, he materialized directly in front of the beast.

Time seemed to slow to an absolute crawl as Jayden drove his flaming fist directly into the Smasher’s face.

Crack! Boom!

The impact was catastrophic. A ring of fire and shockwaves exploded outward, launching the ten-ton beast across the clearing like a skipped stone. It crashed violently into the dirt, but to its credit, it rolled with the momentum and scrambled back to its feet.

Jayden didn’t let it recover. He immediately moved, aiming a spinning roundhouse kick at the beast’s head. The leader saw it coming, crossing its thick, armored forearms to block the strike. But Jayden changed the attack at the last second. He dropped his leg at lightning speed, pivoting his hips to drive a devastating, fire-wreathed punch deep into the beast’s gut.

Air evacuated the leader’s lungs in a violent wheeze. It stumbled backward, clutching its stomach, but immediately planted its feet to retaliate with a sweeping backhand.

Jayden simply leaned back, letting the lethal fist pass inches over his nose.

[The beast is incredibly resilient] Luna noted, genuine surprise in her synthetic voice. [I have never seen a beast this tough]

"Yeah. Me neither," Jayden replied mentally, a manic smirk spreading across his face. "Let’s see if it can keep up with me."

He blurred into motion again. The beast roared, swinging both fists down in a crushing hammer blow, but it only hit the empty space where Jayden had been. He had disappeared.

But then, Jayden suddenly materialized at its right flank with his flaming fist heading for the beast’s exposed side.

Punch.

Flames scorched the white fur, smoke billowing into the air. Before the beast could even register the pain, Jayden was on its left flank.

Punch.

Then its chest. Punch.

Then its shoulder. Crack.

Jayden moved at supersonic speeds, becoming nothing but a streak of crimson fire and black afterimages. To the hordes of Earth Smashers watching from the trees, he was completely invisible. All they saw was their invincible leader crying out in agony as explosions of fire and kinetic force mysteriously erupted all over its massive body.

Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam.

Jayden delivered dozens of bone-shattering blows in the span seconds. Eventually, he planted his foot on the beast’s chest, kicked off, and backflipped fifty feet away, landing smoothly on his feet.

The white leader was a terrifying sight. Its pristine fur was scorched black, drenched in its own blood. It was bruised, battered, and heavily staggering, gasping for air as smoke rose from its massive frame.

But it was still standing. It absolutely refused to fall.

Jayden smiled, his blood pumping with pure adrenaline. This beast was incredible. He stepped forward, letting the flames on his fists die down.

"Just give up and submit," Jayden called out. "I’d rather not have to beat you up again. I need you in good shape."

The beast spat a wad of blood and scoffed. "May be broken... but not yet defeated. And will never admit defeat!"

It suddenly puffed out its massive chest, inhaling a staggering amount of air.

Jayden’s brow furrowed. It was going to use the stamina-drain roar again.

He couldn’t let that happen. He didn’t know the exact range of the Area-of-Effect attack, and he wasn’t going to risk getting caught in it a second time. He had to shut the beast up without killing it.

Jayden pushed off the ground, accelerating to Mach speed. He crossed the clearing in a fraction of a second, perfectly positioned under the beast’s jaw, his fist drawn back for a knockout uppercut.

But as he thrust his fist upward, the beast didn’t try to block. It didn’t try to roar. Instead, its bloody lips twitched upward into a terrifying, knowing smile.

Jayden’s instincts screamed. A shadow eclipsed the sun directly above him, and before he could even look up, the world caved in.

SMASH.

An Earth Smasher that had leaped from the highest branches of the canopy plummeted directly onto Jayden’s back. The sheer kinetic force of the drop-attack slammed Jayden face-first into the dirt, cratering the ground beneath him in a violent explosion of soil and rock.

[-180 Hp]

Jayden groaned, blood instantly flooding his vision. His Hp took a massive, critical hit. He tried to push himself up, his arms shaking, but before his legs could find purchase, a second Earth Smasher materialized from the dust and delivered a brutal soccer kick to his face.

Jayden was sent flying, tumbling violently across the grass like a broken doll.

Before he even stopped moving, the tree line erupted. Twenty massive Earth Smashers dropped into the clearing, abandoning the rules of the duel entirely. They swarmed him like locusts and began hitting him mercilessly.

Massive, heavy fists rained down on his defenseless body in a relentless, suffocating barrage.

CRACK.

A fist caved into his ribs, snapping them like twigs.

SNAP.

A heel stomped onto his shoulder, dislocating it entirely. He was being pulverized, ground into the dirt under thousands of pounds of primate fury. And his Hp dropped with every blow.

[-30 Hp]

[-50 Hp]

[-20 Hp]

[-90 Hp]

Through his bloodshot, swelling eyes, Jayden caught a glimpse of the Smasher leader standing fifty feet away. It was panting, bleeding, but it was watching him get beaten to death with a satisfied, mocking smile.

Realization hit Jayden like a lightning bolt.

It had been a trap. All of it. Earlier, when the leader had pointed at him and barked at the crowd, it hadn’t just been riling them up—it had been issuing a tactical command. It had ordered its vanguard to intervene the moment things got too dangerous. And then it took that deep breath earlier to fake preparing for a roar... to bait Jayden. It knew Jayden would rush in to stop the AoE attack, blinding him to the aerial ambush.

As his HP rapidly plummeted toward zero, Jayden started to laugh. A dark, bubbling chuckle escaped his bloody lips, echoing beneath the onslaught of fists.

He had asked for an honorable duel because he thought the leader was bound by jungle pride. But the beast was cunning, ruthless, and perfectly willing to play dirty to protect its throne. Jayden was genuinely impressed.

But he was also absolutely furious.

As his Hp hit 10, hovering on the very brink of death, Jayden’s golden eyes ignited with an unholy light. And then he whispered:

"Activate Partial Lupine Form."

BOOOOOOM!

Instantly, an apocalyptic shockwave of superheated kinetic pressure exploded from Jayden’s core. The sheer force of the invisible blast caught the twenty Earth Smashers mid-swing, ripping them off the ground and launching them across the meadow like ragdolls caught in a hurricane.

Dust and debris rained down. In the center of the crater, Jayden slowly stood up.

But he was no longer human.

His fingertips had elongated, razor-sharp claws erupting from his nailbeds—shorter than his full Lycan form, but far more refined, glinting like miniature, indestructible blades.

The temperature in the clearing plummeted as a suffocating, terrifying aura of pure dominance pulsed from his body. The grass withered. The trees groaned, bending backward as if trying to escape his presence.

Jayden’s head rose slowly. His jaw had protruded into a feral, predatory maw lined with rows of razor-sharp teeth. Coarse, dark brown fur sprouted across his cheeks in thick mutton chops. His brow was heavily ridged, casting a dark shadow over his glowing golden eyes, and his ears had shifted, pointing sharply upward, twitching to the faintest sounds of the forest.

He looked like a creature born from humanity’s darkest myths. Not a man. Not a wolf. Not even a traditional lycanthrope. It was a terrifying hybridization of all three.

And then he healed... every broken bone, every shattered rib, every wound instantly reversed itself, knitting back together with explosive cellular regeneration.

[Partial Lupine Form Activated]

[Temporary Stat Boost: +200% applied to all base stats;

Strength: 236 >> 708

Speed: Mach 1 >> Mach 3

*Agility: 252 >> 756

*Stamina: 337 >> 1011

*Perception: 396 >> 1188

*Defense: 140 >> 420

*Charm: 84 >> 252

*Mastery: 164 >> 492

——————