"Learning to control my "Wrath" won't be easy," Wail thought as he watched everyone eat dinner from a corner of the cabin. Apparently, coming home after sunset was a no-no in his mother's eyes, so he just accepted his punishment, which wasn't easy since he lost consciousness in the afternoon and didn't have a chance to eat for half a day. Still, it wouldn't be a punishment if he wasn't suffering, so he just accepted it.
The next day, after breakfast and hunting some prey with Growl and Grul, he separated from them and returned to the forest clearing where he trained the day before. Grul would continue checking the traps and eating nonstop, while Growl would stalk some prey. They had decided to train this way.
Wail began trying to enter his wrath state again, which wasn't easy at that moment. It was as if his body was rejecting it, and that wasn't ok with him "If I can't use it whenever I want, there's no point in having it," he thought. So, remembering the novels and mangas from his past life, he decided to try meditating. He already knew what he was looking for; he didn't have to remember the bad things, just how he felt when he did, or so he thought. He closed his eyes and tried to feel the pain in his heart, the feeling of betrayal, the loneliness, the fear.
"Fuu," he breathed deeply, and... there it was. When he opened his eyes, his body had changed again, but there was a problem.
Boom!
Another rock shattered in front of Wail.
"Ha, ha, ha," Wail was breathing heavily. As soon as he entered the Rage state, he forgot everything and attacked the first thing he laid eyes on. "This is going to be difficult," he thought.
As the weeks passed, Wail settled into a routine: hunting until midday with Growl and Grul, training his Rage state while the sun was at its peak, and hunting as much as he could before it set.
Simple enough, but there was a problem—am I really getting stronger?—the question that lingered in him. He hadn't wanted to use the Rage state on his hunts because he didn't know how reliable it was in a serious situation, and after experimenting with the sunken state, he'd gotten alarming results. So a part of him had begun to doubt himself.
Fortunately, it wouldn't be long before he'd tested it in a real fight.
A few miles away, Grul found himself face to face with an enemy he hadn't forgotten. "No! Dad said you were killed! You're a hunter's trophy somewhere else!" Grul thought just as he jumped to the highest branch he could reach. "Roar!" His enemy followed him, and the hunt began.
"Waa!" Grul shouted as the enormous milon chased him. His father had assured him that the milon that attacked them had been hunted by a subjugation party, so this had to be another one. "It's impossible for a milon to sneak over the wall again." His father had assured him there wouldn't be any more of them, but here was Grul running away from one. "Save me, Growl," Grul cried to himself.
On the other hand, Growl was on his back on the ground. He was tired. The prey he had caught was the culmination of weeks of work. "Now I can challenge him," he thought. He had to take the place of the strongest among his siblings. To do that, he had to beat his older brother. Growl didn't call Wail by name; he didn't understand why his father had called him that, but it didn't matter. Defeating his brother was all he had to do. To do that, he had to accomplish what his brother couldn't. The beast lying on the ground next to him was proof. "It's even bigger than the one you failed to kill, brother," he thought, looking at his prey. Beside him, a huge Zonath lay lifeless. Growl had managed to cut its neck, and although he suffered a little, he managed to finish it off.
At that moment, he caught a scent that made him wary, a scent that didn't bring back good memories. "Impossible, a milon?" he thought, and noticed another scent mixing with the milon's. "No! Grul!" He ran, realizing his brother was in trouble.
Grul ran with all his might. Thanks to his hunting expeditions, he no longer tired so quickly. It was also because he always fell asleep with a full stomach. Even so, his attacker was approaching quickly. "Fu, fu, fu!" His breath was beginning to fail him. He had been running for almost an hour and felt like he would soon be able to run no further.
"Roar!" He heard the roar of his attacker and redoubled his efforts to escape. "Waa!" Grul shouted, trying to get someone's attention, anyone, but no one had appeared no matter how much he screamed.
"Crack!"
And then it happened. One of the branches he jumped from broke.
"Boom!"
He fell to the ground, losing all the air in his lungs in the fall. He couldn't breathe. His enemy was right on top of him.
The milon came down from the trees and stood in front of Grul, watching him, and just as he was about to attack—haaa!—Growl came out from the side and charged at the milon.
Clash!
Growl managed to hit the milon with the attack he'd seen Wail use before, the enormous cat leaped to put distance between himself and the pups. He watched them, trying to determine if they were worth hunting or if they were too dangerous to continue.
Growl did the same. He knew that even now he was still too weak to fight a milon, so his only option was to stall for time. "Grul, can you get up?" he told Grul, who watched him closely. Growl indicated that he should move to the right and wait for his command to attack. Grul couldn't believe it. Growl was planning to fight the milon. "This is crazy! Not even Wail could beat him, and he's a monster!" Grul thought, but he couldn't disobey Growl, so he stood up and began to slowly circle the milon. The feline noticed the change and, before they could surround him, he pounced on Growl.
Grul didn't understand. The milon will always attack the weakest prey, that's what his father had explained to him, but there was no way Growl could be weaker than Grul. Then he noticed his brother's condition—he's exhausted— Grul thought.
Clash!
In an instant, an exchange of blows erupted between Growl and the milon, and Growl was sent flying into a tree.
Crack!
The milon was wounded, blood gushing from its face and neck, but the wounds were too shallow. Growl tried to finish it off quickly, but the huge cat was faster.
The milon closed in to deliver the finishing blow to Growl when...
Boom!
"Waag!" A pained sound escaped his snout. Grul threw a rock at his side, hurting the milon. Then he ran toward him. When he was a few steps away from the feline, he threw a pile of leaves, blocking his gaze long enough to grab Growl and flee.
"Roar!" The milon's roar carried a tinge of fury as it began to follow Grul again.
How long did he run? Grul couldn't say, but he was tired. The milon wouldn't give up; it was as if he hated them. Grul couldn't hold out much longer. Running alone was one thing, but with Growl on his shoulders, it was another thing entirely. If it weren't for Wail teaching him how to navigate the trees, the hunt would have ended long ago.
Then it happened. Grul ran out of trees. He jumped and fell to the ground.
Boom!
"Ha, sorry, Growl!" he communicated awkwardly.
"Roar," came the roar of his pursuer.
Grul was tired; he couldn't run any further; everything was spinning around him. "It's the end," he thought.
Then someone stood in front of him, and for a second, a ray of hope shone in his heart, only to be extinguished.
"Seize the time to escape," said Growl, who had woken up, but Grul knew better. Growl was too tired and injured, while he was exhausted from running. "It 's over." Grul thought
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Wail was eating on top of a huge rock when a situation began to unfold right in front of him. His younger brothers, Growl and Grul, had emerged from the forest and were covered in blood. Behind them, a milon, also covered in blood, was preparing to attack. "They're going to blame me for this, aren't they?" Wail thought. He'd been getting into a lot of trouble lately. His mother was scolding him more and more. Now his younger siblings were half-dead in front of him, and they will most likely blame him for it. Wail, on the other hand, also wondered, "How come they haven't noticed I'm here?"
The milon watched the two cubs. Grul knew Growl wouldn't last a second, so he stood and prepared to fight.
"You're too tired," Growl told him and signaled for him to run away.
"You too," but Grul refused; he wasn't going to abandon him.
"Roar!" the milon roared, and he lunged at the cubs.
"Oh, so you're going to ignore me," Wail's voice sounded. The milon, which had begun its charge, stopped and, noticing Wail's presence, jumped away.
Growl and Grul hadn't noticed him either, and when they heard his voice, they were surprised. "Big brother!" Both communicate in unison. Wail was far away from them, yet his voice sounded close, as if he were a few feet away.
The milon watched him, again trying to decide if this new presence was a threat, but he couldn't sense anything. The new prey was smaller than the two he had been chasing so far, and judging by appearance, he looked smaller and weaker than the other two. Still, he didn't want to get closer; something about the scent of this new prey wasn't normal. His eyes weren't normal either. The milon came from outside the walls; he was a creature of the black forest and had experience in these things. He had seen the eyes of many predators far above him on the food chain. But never eyes like those.
The milon thought it was better not to provoke him, he turned to attack the prey he was already chasing, they were wounded, tired and closer so even if the prey that had appeared last decided to intervene, the milon was confident of being able to kill the two others faster.
Just as the milon was preparing to attack —nope— the voice of the prey that appeared last was heard, very close, so close that the milon ended up jumping back again.
The milon was confused.
Grul didn't know what was happening. Even Wail had never talked that much before. Now he was talking a lot, using the forest language his father used, and Grul was able to hear him very well despite being so far away. Not only that, but the milon was scared of Wail. "What's wrong?" Grul communicate, and suddenly Growl took him by the arm and began walking toward Wail. "Come on" Growl communicates tiredly —He needed care, and fast— thought Grul.
Grul turned to look at Wail and communicated "Help" clumsily; he was tired too. His older brother finally got up from the rock he was on and jumped. The jump shattered the rock he'd been sitting on. In a moment, Wail closed the distance between them. Growl and Grul saw him coming but were unable to react. "What?" was all Grul could think of when he saw his older brother about to attack them, and then...
"Wrag!" he heard a sound of pain. Wail had gotten past them and intercepted the milon that was about to reach them. Wail's claws hit the milon's forehead and forced it back.
The milon looked different after that exchange; it was trembling, and all traces of aggression had disappeared. It decided to retreat, but "No," Wail said quietly, almost whispering and even then, his brothers and the milon heard it. The milon stopped; it was terrified. That cub's eyes scared him. It didn't want anything to do with him, so it prepared to flee again when...
"I told you not to," was heard again. Wail appeared on one side of the milon and connected with its claws.
Bam!
The milon flew and crashed into a huge rock jutting out of the ground. The enormous animal writhed and desperately tried to get up, while Wail calmly walked towards him. When the animal saw him, it began to run with all its might, but unfortunately, Wail had it by the tail.
"Roar," the milon roared, but it had no strength; no, that roar was filled with fear.
Boom!
Wail slammed the milon into the rocks.
Boom!
Once
Boom!
And again
Boom!
And again
When it was over, the enormous cat was no longer breathing and its body was deformed.
Growl and Grul saw everything.
"Monster," Grul communicated unconsciously.
"He's gotten stronger" Growl thought, disappointed in himself, as he realized how foolish he had been to believe he could challenge Wail to a duel.
Wail approached; he looked different, his claws were red, and the air around him felt different.
Growl approached him and said, "Brother" before losing consciousness.