CHAPTER 61: BEAST OF HABITAT

Being chased by a life-threatening monster pumps more adrenaline through the veins than anything else.

Jethro never believed that he could run this fast, yet with the three headed mechbeast on his tail, he was merely a blitz of speed fueled by fear.

The forest had gone strangely quiet. He was darting back the way he came, so he’d unconsciously expected the Magma Sloth to attack once again. But glancing ahead, he saw the mechbeast was gone.

He could barely even feel its presence using [Deep Sense]. None of it made any sense. How could there be a Gold Ranked, and now Platinum-Ranked mechbeast in the same territory space?

And had he been wrong earlier? Had the Sloth and Flamewing Crows given up because [Camouflage] had hidden him... or because they’d seen the Chimera and chosen not to cross it?

Was the Chimera somehow the true owner of this domain?

Jethro forced away the questions from his mind. They didn’t mean anything now. All that mattered was leaving the forest before all three of those heads decided to pull him apart.

The beast leaped, but Jethro dove between two close‑standing tree trunks. The bark of the trees didn’t hold it for long. The Chimera burst right through them and continued to chase after Jethro.

He was already on his feet, clutching Scorch against his chest like a desperate parent protecting a child. He veered hard left, then hurled himself into a patch of blazing undergrowth. Fireleaf branches scraped against his arms as he hunkered low in the cover.

In the silence of the crackling flames, Jethro looked down at Scorch and gestured for it to stay quiet. The Chimera had stopped chasing as well. Jethro could sense it a few feet away from him, all three heads turning, searching for him.

Yes, hiding was a bad idea, he knew that. But if played right, it could work. Peering through the fiery leaves, he saw each head of the Cinder Chimera hunting in its own way:

The lion head’s sharp eyes scanned the leaves of a tree nearby; the goat head lurked around bushes, its twitching nose catching the faintest scent trail; and the raven’s head cocked sideways, probing for the slightest disturbance in the air.

Jethro knew it wouldn’t take long before they spotted him. If this was truly the Chimera’s domain, then it had every advantage here. Jethro already knew from Combat Class that mechbeast fared better in their places of habitat: domains.

But he also knew that if he somehow managed to escape the Flame Forest, the beast wouldn’t follow.

No matter how fierce or powerful a mechbeast was, if they were territory beasts, then they would always be scared, anxious or unwilling to go anywhere beyond their own territory.

Jethro crouched lower, [Camouflage] still activated as he silently recalled everything he knew about the Cinder Chimera. The crimson screen appeared as expected, extracting the information from his mind and presenting it before him.

Apart from their abilities, which Jethro really didn’t want to think about, Cinder Chimeras were relentless hunters. If any mechbeast of habitat were to ever leave their domain in the hunt of prey, it would be them.

So wasn’t this riskier than he expected?

Even so, he barely had time.

A grunt behind him cut through his thoughts. The goat head that had been scanning the bushes must have finally sensed him. That wasn’t good.

The silence that came after thickened with dread. Thump. Thump. Thump. That was the sound of the Chimera’s large paws of steel, following their senses closer to Jethro’s hiding spot.

Jethro’s fingers brushed the surface of a palm-sized rock. It could have been scorching hot, he wouldn’t know. With a deep breath of preparation, he shut his eyes and bit his lower lip until pain exploded in his nerves.

Blood dripped down from his lip and splattered on top the stone.

All three pairs of eyes of the Chimera flashed, and it sped at Jethro’s hiding spot, sensing the blood which affirmed what it suspected.

But it suddenly halted. The scent trail had vanished. The Chimera couldn’t smell the blood anymore. At least, not from there.

Thud. Rustle. Rustle.

The mechbeast’s eyes flashed with realization, all its senses burning as it smelled the blood a distance away to its left— heard the rustle in the fire leaves of that small bush.

Its prey had moved.

The three heads snapped sharply toward the rustle, their senses drawn like magnets to the signal.

But the moment it pounced into the burning bush, there was nothing but a stone, and a splat of blood that had been used to draw a mocking smiley face.

All three heads scowled.

Instantly, Jethro exploded out of his real hiding spot— the earlier bush —with renewed speed. That was all the opening he needed, and now, the path out of the Flame Forest was free for him to run through.

The Chimera, as expected, noticed him instantly, bellowing in fury before chasing after him. The lion head roared in rage, the goat head bleated madly, the raven head cawed out sonic bursts that he averted.

Glancing back only to gauge distance, Jethro clamped Scorch closer and pushed harder. He’d run this route twice tonight, the third time had to count.

But [Deep Sense] was overloaded. He could see too many things at that moment, feel too many things. Like the heat signatures, seismic vibrations, the chilling psychic scream of the Raven head and the crackle of electricity from the Goat head.

It was his moment of desperation that was causing this. Passive Skills like [Deep Sense] were usually the hardest to master. He would have to learn to control it later by focusing on one sense at a time.

As for now, he needed to run.

Jethro vaulted a bubbling fissure, slid under a low-hanging curtain of large fire leaves hanging on an awkward branch. He could feel [Solar Charge] siphon the heat energy greedily, fueling [Camouflage] as he plunged into a narrow fissure— a new route to get rid of the beast.

But a roar reminded him that the Chimera was still close behind him. It was too big to follow through the crack, but it wouldn’t stop. It would find another way.

Or simply smash through.

Jethro burst out the other side onto a wider ledge overlooking a sheer drop. It was the edge of the Flame Forest. This wasn’t the entrance Jethro had used, but it would get him away from this place and the mechbeast faster.

He looked down. Below lay darkness, dangerously shaped rocks, a certain deadly fall, and the distant glow of Sector One’s lower depths. There was a half-melted warning signs, littering the ledge and offering nothing of sorts to help Jethro’s confidence levels:

`DEADLY DROP - UNSTABLE GROUND - NO RETURN’

But Jethro had no choice.

A roar thundered behind him as the Chimera burst through the crack, shattering barks of trees as it lunged towards him.

"Hold tight, Scorch!" Jethro yelled as he threw himself off the ledge.

Jethro flew through the air, his legs flailing, walking on invisible stairs as he leaped over to the jagged rock at the other end.

Just as his body was about to hit the rock face, he activated [Wall-Climb], outstretching his arm and slapping the stony rock face. He made it. He was on the face, hanging like a lizard.

The Lion’s jaws snapped shut on the empty air where Jethro had stood. The sound was like shearing metal, and the frustration was shared by all three ugly heads.

The Chimera slammed a massive forepaw onto the ledge, cracking the rock where Jethro had just launched himself.

Jethro scrambled sideways like a spider, fingers burning. He glanced down. The drop was dizzying, like twenty feet into jagged darkness.

He looked back up. The Chimera’s three heads tracked his every move, the Lion already gathering another gout of molten slag, the Goat’s horns crackling anew, the Raven’s beak opening for another piercing shriek.

Jethro smirked at the monster. "They weren’t kidding when they called you a relentless hunter, were they?"

The mechbeast growled hungrily.

Still hanging on the cliff, he scoffed. "Do you really think I’m not going to jump? I admit I’m scared of heights, but you’re way uglier than a twenty feet drop will ever be."

The mechbeast remained there, testifying to its true nature: relentless hunter.

Jethro scowled. "Jeez. You hideous thing! Give up already."

With a sigh, accepting that the Chimera wasn’t going anywhere, Jethro began to carefully climb down the rock, Scorch curled around his neck.

But only one minute to his descent, [Camouflage] gave out. That was when Jethro realized he’s been spending his aether on both [Camouflage] and [Wall Climb].

He wasn’t inside the Flame Forest anymore which meant [Solar Charge] wasn’t active.

Which also meant—

[Wall Climb] was about to fail, too.

Jethro’s eyes widened. One finger peeled free like loose cellotape. Then another. "No, no, no, no."

Then his whole palm lost grip.

Jethro began to plummet to the floor. "No!!!!!" He grabbed Scorch, holding him tight to the chest as he slammed against a large metal board on the ground. Hard and with a resounding thud.

His entire body wracked in pain. Which was a good thing, because that meant he was luckily still alive.

Jethro let out a pained groan. "That bloody Chimera," he mumbled. "This is gonna go one of two ways between you and I."

He struggled to his feet, panting, Scorch still tight in his embrace. "Either I kill you... or I tame you."