Arthur's voice followed.

"Bite."

Mel reacted instantly.

She leaped sideways toward the dummy at full speed, her body twisting midair before her jaws clamped down hard on the wooden arm.

Crunch!

Arthur's heart skipped.

Even though he had already read the skill description, actually seeing it happen was completely different.

For a second, he honestly looked like a nervous father watching his kid perform for the first time.

But then pride replaced the worry.

Because Mel looked amazing.

Her jaws locked tightly around the dummy's arm and unlike before, she didn't struggle to maintain the bite.

She held on naturally.

Like a real predator.

Arthur quickly noticed it.

The mana around her fangs had condensed instinctively the moment she bit down.

Then came the next part.

Mel twisted violently.

Crack!

The entire arm tore clean off the dummy.

Arthur blinked.

"What the hell…"

The amount of aggression behind that attack shocked even him.

And the craziest part…

Mel herself looked excited by it.

Her tail wagged once before she instantly moved again.

No hesitation.

No pause.

The broken arm was still in her mouth when she stepped forward and slashed across the dummy's neck with her claws.

Slash!

This time the damage was even deeper than before.

A huge chunk of the dummy's neck split apart as sharp mana flowed through her tiny claws.

Arthur could only stare as the attacks connected naturally.

Claw into bite.

Bite into claw.

Exactly like the skill description said.

Predator rhythm.

And Mel was using it instinctively.

Arthur slowly lowered his hand that had unconsciously risen from shock.

"She's insane…"

But the smile on his face only widened.

This was exactly what he wanted.

Strength.

Real strength.

He could already tell this still wasn't the limit of the skill either.

The interface mentioned the bleed pressure effect and the Blood Memory passive, both things that would only fully shine during actual combat.

Just imagining Mel getting faster and more aggressive mid battle already made Arthur excited.

Still, for now, training was enough.

So he kept guiding her.

Again and again.

Mel rushed through the course repeatedly, destroying one dummy after another.

Sometimes she used her claws first.

Sometimes she lunged straight for the neck.

Other times she combined both attacks together so smoothly that Arthur almost forgot she was still just a cub.

And as time passed, Arthur slowly reduced his instructions.

Mel started moving on her own.

Thinking on her own.

Experimenting herself.

Arthur watched proudly as she began trying different attack angles, different timings and even adjusting her movements depending on the obstacle ahead.

Her confidence grew rapidly.

Every successful attack only pushed her harder.

Even when her breathing became rough and her small body started tiring, she still refused to stop.

The desire to grow stronger burned clearly through the bond.

Arthur could feel it.

And honestly…

He respected it.

Then suddenly, a thought crossed his mind.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"There's something I haven't tried yet…"

He hadn't used the function since awakening the Ally Intent System.

Mostly because nobody had made him check the function before now.

But Mel had pushed him to.

So Arthur tried it immediately.

An interface appeared before him almost instantly.

Arthur's eyes widened slightly as he read through it.

✦══════════════════════════════════════✦

❂ SOVEREIGN INTENT SYSTEM ❂

✦══════════════════════════════════════✦

⟦ Skill Upgrade Available ⟧

Target Skill: Predator Rend

Current Rank: E

Upgrade Limit Detected: D-Rank

⟦ Upgrade Restriction ⟧

Skill growth is limited by the ally's current body and mana foundation.

The target has trained enough to safely contain at E-Rank.

Further upgrades are unavailable until Mel strengthens her physical frame, mana circulation, and combat adaptation through real training and battle.

No forced growth permitted.

━━━ UPGRADE EFFECT PREVIEW ━━━

Predator Rend (E-Rank Upgrade)

• Increased fang penetration and grip strength

• Sharper claw conduction and improved slashing speed

• Stronger Tear-Twist instinct damage

• Reduced stamina strain during repeated use

• Improved bleed-trigger response speed

━━━ COST ━━━

Intent Points Required: 25 IP

Proceed with Skill Upgrade?

⟦ YES / NO ⟧

✦══════════════════════════════════════✦

Arthur stared at the interface quietly.

Then slowly, a grin spread across his face.

"So that's how it works."

This answered a lot for him.

The system wasn't just blindly making people stronger.

There were limits.

Foundations mattered.

Growth mattered.

Which honestly made the whole thing feel even crazier somehow.

Because despite all the restrictions…

Mel had still reached the point where an upgrade was possible.

Arthur looked back toward the cub.

At that exact moment, Mel leaped through another obstacle and ripped straight through a dummy's shoulder with her claws before tearing into its neck with a savage bite.

Arthur laughed softly to himself.

"Yeah… you definitely earned this."

His eyes stayed on the interface for a few more seconds.

Then he laughed softly to himself.

He genuinely felt happy.

Not because of the system.

Not because of the points.

But because Mel was growing stronger.

Fast.

Way too fast.

And for the first time since everything started going wrong around the stronghold, Arthur felt a bit relieved.

Mel would be able to defend herself now.

Not just run, and not just dodge.

But fight.

And honestly, the thought alone made him proud.

Nobody would expect it either.

Not the explorers.

Not even the enemies.

Hell, even Commander Lyra probably wouldn't imagine the cute little cub tearing through monsters like this.

At least not this quickly.

Arthur looked toward Mel again as she stood near the destroyed dummy, her small chest rising and falling from exertion.

Then he smiled.

"You earned this one too."

He didn't hesitate anymore.

He willed the upgrade immediately.

And the system responded at once.

✦══════════════════════════════════════✦

❂ SOVEREIGN INTENT SYSTEM ❂

✦══════════════════════════════════════✦

⟦ Skill Upgrade Successful ⟧

Target: Arthur's Wolf

Skill: Predator Rend

━━━ RANK ASCENSION ━━━

E-Rank → D-Rank

⟦ Intent Points Consumed ⟧

✦ -25 IP ✦

━━━ UPDATED SKILL DATA ━━━

Skill Name: Predator Rend

Rank: E

Type: Attack / Beast Technique

⟦ Description ⟧

A refined predator technique that channels mana into both fangs and claws, allowing rapid tearing strikes that overwhelm defenses through sustained aggression.

At D-Rank, the wolf's mana flow becomes smoother and more lethal, enabling cleaner combinations and deeper penetration.

✦══════════════════════════════════════✦