He couldn’t judge its height in the darkness but guessed it to be roughly as tall as his hips. Plenty big for an animal. A flash of silver showcased the beast's claws.

Liam carefully drew his dagger. It was one of the few things Liam had bought when he left Charville, back then he had hoped he would never have to use it, although he had known that hope to be foolish to begin with.

It was a sad thing really, cheap metal on a used hilt. But it was the best Liam had been able to afford. Now he was grateful he had it.

He rotated along with the cat’s movements rotating along so as not to show his back. His thoughts were running on overdrive.

Running was no option, the thing would be faster than him in the forest every day of the week. His [Gravity Jump] wouldn’t help him much in a thick forest like this.

No, there were only two options. Either he could scare the thing off, or he would have to fight it. Looking at the beast's claws shimmering in the moonlight, Liam much preferred the first option.

He tapped into his mana. Familiar purple lines sprang up from the objects around him. He locked his gaze on one of the thinner tree branches, and using his [Gravity Manipulation] Skill, increased the energy dragging it down.

There was a loud snapping sound as the branch was sent hurling to the ground directly next to the cat. The beast jumped, scared, but after a quick glance determined the tree branch to be no threat to it. Liam cursed, he had hoped to be able to hit the cat with the branch, but he lacked fine control for that still.

The cat hissed and started prowling closer towards Liam. He began swinging his knife wildly in front of him and sent another tree branch crashing into the forest floor.

This time the cat flinched only for a second, before refocusing its eyes on Liam. There was an unkeen intelligence in them, one that made Liam shudder.

He took an instinctive step backward, which the cat saw as an invitation. It pounced forward, so quickly that Liam had barely enough time to jump aside and roll over the ground.

The thing was fast. Too fast. If he waited to react to it, he wouldn’t be able to channel his [Gravity Jump] in time.

The cat pounced anew, and once again Liam barely managed to avoid it.

Yes, he really needed to keep his [Gravity Jump] ready at all times he wanted to outmaneuver the beast. This time he didn’t even wait for the animal to pounce again. Instead, he took the initiative. Liam channeled his mana and activated his [Gravity Jump] skill. He felt himself getting lighter as the fabric of energy dragging him down suddenly lessened.

“You want some of this?” He screamed. “Come and get it!”

The cat seemed to understand the tone. It hissed loudly and lowered itself to the ground. Before it propelled itself forward to once again gracefully pounce towards Liam, he jumped first.

He didn’t use much power to push himself off the ground, but he didn’t need to. Since his skill had reached level 4, his fine control had drastically increased. With barely more than a hop, Liam leaped to the other side of the clearing. At the same time that he landed, the cat struck the ground where he had just stood. Confused and angry.

“You have to be quicker,” he taunted. The cat hissed infuriated.

Liam used that moment and switched to his [Gravity Manipulation] skill. The feeling of weightlessness subsided almost instantly, instead the purple line greeted him again.

Standing on the complete opposite side of the clearing, Liam wanted to use the time. He picked a thicker tree branch now, at least twice the size of the two before, with lots of smaller branches on it. He started channeling his mana into the energy dragging it down and slightly to the side, directly towards the middle of the clearing. As if feeling Liam was up to something, the animal started charging him.

Liam poured all his energy into making the branch fall. The cat was getting closer. He increased the energy again and again, but it didn’t budge.

Finally, as the cat leaped into the air, Liam had to cancel his skill. He dashed to the side to avoid the beast but was too slow. He managed to avoid having the beast land on top of him but caught himself a nasty gash along his shoulder in return.

He got up from the ground and saw the cat smiling towards him. There was a playful expression to it now, as it slowly prowled towards Liam.

It lowered itself to the ground again. Liam instinctively threw himself to the side. His shoulder screamed in pain when it hit the dirt, but he pushed the pain down. He quickly propped himself up from the ground, only to see that the beast hadn’t even moved.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

It was playing with him.

Shit, that’s not a good sign.

Liam realized he needed a change of plans.

He grabbed his dagger tighter and went on the offensive himself. He pushed his fears away and lunged forward, surprising the cat just as it was about to pounce. It avoided him easily though, by moving its body supply backwards.

In retaliation, it swiped with its claws. A sliver flashed in the moonlight and then a pain erupted on Liam’s forearm. He looked down to see three stripes of blood running over it.

No time for that now.

Instead of giving in to the pain, Liam just tried to channel more of his mana. The warm energy surging through him made the pain a little lighter and the world around him a little sharper.

Those exchanges repeated themselves a few times. Liam swiped at the cat uselessly and caught himself gashes in return. He got more and more infuriated with the fight, whereas the cat seemed to be enjoying it.

Now it was the one taunting Liam. He knew that it was playing with him, but he had no other options. The beast was just too agile if he only had a way to slow it down. A thought took form in his head.

Liam faked an attack and dodged the cat's counterattack. It was a clumsy move, but it worked in creating some distance between the two. The cat was surprised by his change of tactics but merely proceeded forward calmly and slowly.

Slow enough to give Liam enough time to activate [Gravity Manipulation] again.

[Gravity Manipulation] - Command the forces of gravity, shaping its influence upon the inanimate objects in your vicinity.

Liam had read through the description over a hundred times in the few weeks since he had gotten the skill. He had tried to expand the skill over its initial description but was found with resistance.

No matter how much he tried, he had never been able to use the skill on other humans or animals. Not even on himself.

That had always been only a slightly bad aftertaste for him though, since the skills applications had still seemed almost limitless. And his pure excitement over having become a cultivator had simply overtaken him.

But now he was truly faced with his own limitations.

Liam dug deep into his skill. He focused harder, willing those energies to apply to the cat. Forcing the purple lines to come forward.

It was almost in pouncing distance, thinking the desperate look on Liam’s face a sign of its triumph. Panicky Liam threw more energy into his skill. The cat pounced. Liam's mind screamed, willing the energy to draw the cat down.

Something broke. Suddenly Liam felt his mana hammer into the cat, pulling on the potential energies. For a second time seemed frozen as the cat was soaring towards Liam. He made his peace. Then suddenly the cat was forcefully dragged to the ground. It landed with a thud and whimpered.

It was hard to tell who was more shocked by the outcome, Liam or the cat. The cat let out a whining sound, struggling to get up, but the energies dragging it down were too much.

Liam had to concentrate to keep the skill running. It was an almost overbearing presence in his mind, churning through a scary amount of mana in just a few seconds. Liam could feel his energies dwindling already. But he just needed to continue it a little longer.

Liam wasted no time and dashed forward, burying his dagger in the black fur of the cat. The thing hissed angrily but was helpless under the enormous amounts of pressure. Liam rammed his dagger another time into the beast.

His mind was threatening to explode. He felt slow and sluggish as if he was moving through a gelatinous blob.

Only a little longer.

He drew his blade out of the beast's body again and drew back for another stab. He needed to end this, so he aimed directly at its head. Just as he was about to connect though, something shattered in his mind.

The skill broke off. His dagger only bit dirt as the cat had immediately pushed himself away again. A loud hiss was heard behind him, then sharp pain exploded across his back.

He felt the blood before the pain set in. Not even his mana was enough to keep him focused.

Liam tried to dash away, but he only managed to stumble forward. He tried to channel [Gravity Jump] but was only met with a hollow feeling of weakness.

Flesh tore in his leg as the beast bit down. Liam fell to the ground. His vision started swimming. He turned to see the cat strolling towards him. It took its time, knowing its victory to be sure.

Liam felt for his dagger, but he had lost it somewhere. The blood loss made it hard to focus. Suddenly the beast loomed over him.

This is it. At least I have made it this far.

A wet sound was heard and suddenly the cat’s head slid from its body. Blood ushered out and the beast’s heavy body collapsed next to Liam.

He looked around in a frenzy. The sight of a blood-dripping blade greeted him. It was large and odd. He looked along its hilt and saw Marten standing there.

The man looked at him with an unreadable expression. Then he put out his hand and helped Liam up.

The pain in his leg threatened to make him fall again, but he bit it down. He felt like all the energy had been drained out of him, his head was pounding and exhaustion crept through his bones. Only adrenaline and the sharp pain kept him awake.

“Thank you,” Liam said.

“Here take that.” Marten handed him a small pill.

Liam looked at it. He couldn’t quite make out the color in the dim light. “What is it?”

“We call it soldier pill. It helps with the pain.”

Usually, Liam would mistrust every pill that was given to him. But hearing that it would help with the pain was enough for his brain and he threw it down.

Immediately a soft warmth flooded him. Liam felt some of his strength returning and his mana regeneration. The pain dulled considerably, almost as if there was a sheet of cotton between Liam and his screaming nerves.

Together with the strength returning to Liam, a message popped up.

“You have branched out your skill.”

“Check new skill.“

Before Liam opened the message, Marten’s cold dispassionate voice ripped him out of it.

“So you’re a cultivator.”