Lunar Legacy: Rise Of The Beastlord-Chapter 120: Beastly Reunion

The digital clock on Jayden’s nightstand glowed 5:17 AM when his eyes snapped open. No alarm had stirred him—just the ingrained instinct of a predator who knew when to rise.

He moved through the house like a shadow, the floorboards silent beneath his bare feet. The shower ran hot and quick, steam curling around his frame before he shut it off with a decisive twist. Towel around his waist, he dressed in the dim light filtering through his blinds—black shirt, cargo pants with a sneakers.

The front door clicked shut behind him at 6:10 AM. The neighborhood slept, the streets empty save for the occasional automated delivery drone humming overhead. The cab he’d called—a sleek black autonav was waited at the curb, its interior lights flickering on as he approached.

"Jade City outskirts," he told the AI, settling into the leather seat. "Forest access point near the old quarry."

The cab pulled away soundlessly. Jayden watched the city blur past, skyscrapers giving way to warehouses, then to the chain-link fences marking the urban boundary. His reflection in the window showed eyes already glinting gold—the beast beneath his skin anticipating the hunt.

7:22 AM

The cab decelerated at a crumbling service road. "Destination reached," the AI chirped.

Jayden shouldered his pack and stepped into air so cold it burned his lungs. Before him stretched the forest terrain—a sea of pines and twisted oaks where the city’s glow couldn’t reach. Somewhere in that darkness, his fortune waited.

50 E-Rank beasts. 10 D-Rank.

That was the goal.

He crossed the tree line, feet sinking into loam. The forest welcomed him with the scent of damp earth and something muskier underneath—the tang of fur and venom.

Then the first growl rippled through the trees.

Jayden turned slowly. Five sets of amber eyes gleamed in the undergrowth, low-slung forms slinking between the ferns.

He didn’t need to his dragon eye to know. They were E-Rank Howlers.

His lips curled into a smile.

"Five at once." he chuckled, clenching his fist. "Lucky me."

...

The sun blazed overhead, casting golden shafts of light through the dense canopy of the Blackthorn Forest. Jayden leaned against the gnarled bark of an ancient oak, catching his breath. The air was thick with the metallic scent of blood—his latest kills littered the battlefield: five Howlers, their twisted forms sprawled across the dirt, and fifteen more beasts... 10 E-Tremor Gators with shattered skulls and 5 F-Rank Howlers with their spines snapped like twigs.

Fifteen E-Rank corpses down. Thirty-five to go.

He exhaled, rolling his shoulders. He had also managed to level up once. But the hunt was far from over.

Then—he felt something approaching him.

A primal warning flared in his mind a fraction of a second before the tree behind him exploded.

Jayden launched himself into the air just as three razor-sharp claws scythed through the oak, reducing it to splinters. Bark and wood fragments rained down as he twisted midair, landing in a crouch several feet away. His golden eyes scanned the clearing for the assaulter. But he saw nothing. No attacker. No beast. Just the eerie rustle of leaves.

But he already knew.

Invisibility. Long, knuckle-claws.

There was only one beast who had this characteristics.

A Greater Wolverine Stalker.

Jayden smirked. "Alright, let’s play."

With a thought, his Dragon Eye-Thermal Imaging activated. The world shifted into hues of red and blue—and there it was. A towering, hulking figure, muscles coiled beneath a shimmering veil of camouflage, its elongated claws twitching with anticipation. It moved with predatory grace, circling him, believing itself unseen.

How wrong it was.

The beast lunged—a blur of motion, claws extended to eviscerate. Jayden sidestepped effortlessly, the deadly swipe cutting only air. The Stalker’s eyes—invisible to normal sight but blazing hot in thermal... widened in shock.

Jayden reappeared behind it in a flash, his fist hammering into its spine with a sickening...

CRACK!

The beast slammed face-first into a tree, its invisibility flickering out as its body crumpled.

But it wasn’t done.

With a guttural snarl, the Stalker wrenched itself up, its broken spine knitting back together with grotesque pops. Now fully visible, Jayden got his first real look—thick, matted fur, a muzzle lined with dagger-like fangs, and those wicked, foot-long claws glinting under the sunlight.

Jayden immediately checked it’s info;

________

*Name: Greater Wolverine Stalker

*Rank: D

*Abilities: Invisibility

*Hp: 350/350

________

"D-Rank." Jayden muttered. "Just as I thought."

A grin spread across his face. He could end the fight seconds. All he had to do was shift into his Partial Lupine Form and tear it apart. But where was the fun in that?

He cracked his neck. "Let’s see how much stronger I’ve gotten since the last time I fought one of you."

The Wolverine charged, claws slashing in a deadly cross-pattern. Jayden dashed forward, his own claws extending mid-motion. A single, brutal slash carved a deep gash across the beast’s chest. Blood sprayed. The Stalker roared, swinging wildly—but Jayden weaved between the strikes like smoke, his movements effortless.

It was too easy.

He ducked a horizontal swipe, then exploded upward, his fist crashing into the beast’s jaw with enough force to send it rocketing into the air.

Before it could hit the ground, Jayden telekinetically seized four broken tree branches—each as thick as a forearm—and hurled them like spears.

THUNK. THUNK. THUNK. THUNK.

The branches impaled the Stalker mid-flight, pinning it to a massive oak. Two through the shoulders. Two through the thighs.

The beast thrashed, howling in agony, but the wooden stakes held firm, its claws twitching uselessly.

Jayden strolled forward, his footsteps silent against the blood-soaked earth. The Wolverine’s eyes locked onto him—fear flickering behind the rage.

"Last time I fought one of you," Jayden mused, flexing his claws, "I nearly died." He tilted his head. "Now? You’re just practice."

The Stalker snarled, struggling—

Jayden’s arm moved.

SWISH.

A single, decapitating slash.

The beast’s head tumbled, blood arcing through the air in a crimson spray. Its body twitched once, then fell still.

[+40 exp received]

[One D-Rank Wolverine Stalker crystal has been added to inventory]

[Would you like to absorb the Wolverine Stalker crystal?]

Jayden stared at the prompt, contemplating. Then finally, he spoke. "No. Leave it in the inventory."

[Jayden, are you sure about this?] Luna chimed in his head

He shrugged. "Yes. It’s not everyday you come across a D-Rank beast crystal. It’s very valuable. And since i can absorb that of E-Ranks to rank up, absorbing this D-Rank crystal seems like a waste."

Luna sighed. [You’re actually right.. it’s better to keep the higher rank crystals for future purposes]

Jayden exhaled, shaking the gore from his claws. "Yeah." he muttered, before adding the corpses of all twenty-one beasts into his inventory.

The forest loomed ahead, shadows stretching like grasping fingers.

He smirked. "Still have a long way to go."

And with that, he vanished into the trees.

The hunt was far from over.

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