บท 15: Black Jaguar

Demi-humans are the most diverse race in the world, each of them is a distant relative to an animal, some even argued that humans are just monkey Demi-humans that had their bloodline extend too far.

In terms of raw combat powers, two of their races claimed the top, the cats and dogs factions.

At the top of the dog's faction is the Fenrir tribe, they are distinguished by their long fox-like ears and silvery hair.

On the other hand, the cat's faction had the Lions tribe as the strongest for a long time, until they were found! A nomad, shy tribe that had stayed hidden from the world as they traveled the most dangerous forests.

The first time they appeared, they were mistaken for regular cat people, that was until the Jaguar clan stood for them. In the distant past, A Jaguar with black hair was born in their clan. That man was violent, ruthless. to the point he had to be exiled, 'he didn't leave his animalistic behavior', said the Jaguar clan.

Now and after hundreds of years, his descendants have shown again, finally acting and looking like Demi-humans. But there was a catch, they didn't lose that animalistic behavior, they just evolved to keep it in check in front of others! The moment a black Jaguar snaps, he returns to his violent self.

Even their anatomy was so weird that the scholars of the world couldn't help but be amazed. From the outside, they look identical to cat people, if you didn't count that they are a bit bulky with a fair amount of muscle mass.

Their hands and feet are similar to humans from the outside, but what looked like nails are claws retracted inside the fingers, the black Jaguar can extend them at will.

Their face is identical to humans from the outside except for the eyes and the ears. From the inside, it's another story!

Their cheeks can retract to the back revealing their enormous Jaw, rivaling that of the big cats! Their teeth structure is also similar to the big cats, with a bite force enough to crush bones.

Their main fighting style is mercy killing their target with a powerful bite to the skull, and yes their jaws can open that wide! That being said, The females have much smaller jaws than males so they instead go for the back of the neck, targeting the spin! Scholars think that this difference is because females are getting closer to humans than males!

Because of their impressive strength and rarity, they were always targeted by hunters and slave traders! Which only helped to increase the race violence against attacks.

Cain knew all of this so he could tell, she wasn't happy with how they treated her.

...

Cain was using [Darkvision] so unlike the bandits, he could see extremely well. He could see her carrying the corpse in her jaw to the higher section, the same way a Jaguar would carry his prey up a tree.

After leaving the corpse there, she jumps down to catch another body, a hunting streak!

'This is my chance!' [Lesser healing] Cain stopped his bleeding, getting ready for another round.

"AHAA!" Cain screamed as he swallowed his pain and sliced another one of the bandits.

"They are just two! The intruder is almost dead, stay together!" One of the bandits shouted encouraging them, "We captured that woman before, and well do it again!" He added.

"No! Die!" Cain whispered before stabbing the bandit in the back, [Electric discharge] as the hit seemed to miss all the vital organs, Cain fried him instead!

In that short moment when lightning flashed from Cain's blade, the room got lit up revealing a terrifying seance. They saw that Jaguar woman dragging one of their friends to a mound of corpses.

In that short time, she had killed more of them they had noticed, just getting in the dark was a death sentence.

Cain's main problem was his stamina, he is running low and was getting slower, soon or later he won't be able to move!

The moment came again, he was slashed on the back. 'Facing one is simple, but those numbers all at the same time!'

{Second-tier Magic: [Shockwave] have been added to the system}

Using that magic, Cain released a powerful shockwave from his body knocking all the bandits around him prone.

"Agh, Ahe!" Even though he was covering his face, the bandits could see blood coming from his mouth, Cain was already badly injured! His body was failing and he fell to the ground.

"He is almost dead! don't give him time to rest!" They screamed swarming him.

Thud! They heard the sound of a heavy thing landing behind them!

"Did she come to the light on her own?" One of them gasped seeing her bloodied face.

ROAAAAAAAAAAR! She roared at the top of her lungs, they could even feel it shaking their bones.

"Split in..." Thud! She closed the distance clawing his throat before he could even finish speaking!

Another one swung his sword down on her, attempting a slash, "Just die!" he screamed but in the next moment his arm was bitten off and she finished him with a claw strike to the face.

Her movements were agile, had an explosive speed and precision! The bandits fell one after the other to her, they were outmatched in close quarter combat (CQC).

Grrrrr! She was growling, as she prowled around Cain, Killing anyone who got close.

"She is protecting the intruder? Shit, at this rate we're going to be wiped out!"

As Cain was almost unable to move, he took this chance to make a bet. How would she react if he cast magic on her? There was still the chance she might take as an attack and kill him as well.

Cain tried to sneak his hand to her back, to be more precise he tried to reach under her clothes and touch her back directly.

She instinctively caught his hand with her tail, giving him a sharp glance. "You...Ugh...need magic buffs...to fight!" Cain managed to utter those words as he was coughing blood.

Seeing him like that she released his hand, she even backed down to get closer to him! The moment his palm touched her back, she could feel a warm feeling covering her entire body.

[Lesser Empowerment], [Swiftness], [Soundless]. To cast supportive magic on another person you have to physically touch them, weak Effects only required you to touch the person in any place. On the other hand, Casting multiple spells at the same time requires you to get closer to the heart!

Cain firstly was only able to reach her lower back so he intended to only use [Swiftness] on her as she seemed to have enough strength. But now since she got closer and he could reach to her upper back so why not make her even stronger?

{first-tier Magic: [Gust of Wind] have been added to the system} With the last remaining of his MP, Cain snuffed out all the torches in the room, turning it pitch black.

"Don't... let anyone..."Cain passed out before could finish the sentence.

"As master wishes, no prey shall leave alive-gaw!" Selena said as eyed the bandits in the dark.

With Cain's magic, It didn't take her long to wipe them all out. She even tracked those who tried to run away.

The fight was over, Selena was busy trying to wake Cain up. She might act like a beast in fights, but otherwise, she just acts like a human.

"Wake up-nya!" No matter how much she shook him he didn't wake up, she could still hear his heart beating so she knew he was alive.

"Someone who might help!" Even if he was alive, she could see his wounds. She was well aware that she does not know about treating them so he might be dying.

As she was racking her brain she caught a weird smell on the piece of cloth he was using to cover his face.

She started sniffing it right away, "It's not the bandit's smell-nya, It's a female-nya!" Thinking about it, Selena concluded.

"Must be master's mate-nya! She might be able to help!" Selena said as she tied Cain to her back using a piece of cloth she had torn from the bandits.

After securing him to her back, Selena started running on all four at an inhuman speed, Chasing the scent down.

One thing was on Selena's mind besides Cain's well-being, It concerned that mate!

'Master's mate-nya, I wonder if she would allow me into the pride without a fight-nya!' Selena thought it might seem disrespectful to fight against who is going to heal Cain.