Alex regained his balance mid-flight, his wings vibrating with newfound power. He straightened his body, then immediately activated his Lightning Leap skill.
A crack of thunder echoed.
He vanished in a bolt of lightning, reappearing above the eagle in a bluish flash. Without hesitation, he launched a volley of flaming spikes, each burning with a fierce, wild fire.
The Stormbeak, with a piercing cry, spun like a top, its silhouette stretching until it became a silver tornado. The wind howled. All projectiles were deflected by the violent rotation of the bird.
The eagle spread its wings and with a right wing stroke and a left wing stroke, it unleashed two powerful gusts.
Alex blocked the first blow, but the second hit him full force.
His body was violently thrown into the air. He was falling headfirst at full speed toward the ground.
He was about to crash.
But at the last moment, gasping, he forced his wings, straightening them with all his strength. His muscles screamed under the effort, but he managed to stabilize his fall just before impact.
He stayed in flight, breathless, arms trembling.
In front of him, the eagle was swirling, majestic, ready to dive again.
Alex gritted his teeth. Even though he was at a lower level than the lightning panther… this bird played on another plane.
It wasn't just a difference in raw power. It was a territory he did not control.
The sky.
And he understood instantly.
In an aerial fight…
He was no match.
Without wasting a second, he sped away through the forest. The branches flew by at full speed, but he avoided them with supernatural precision. Behind him, Stormbeak pursued. The faster Alex accelerated, the more the eagle caught up.
It seemed carried by the wind itself.
Under pressure, Alex reacted immediately. He raised his arm and unleashed an Acid Jet. The projectile shot out at high speed, aimed straight at the celestial eagle.
But the Stormbeak answered with a piercing cry, and a shockwave spread brutally in all directions. Trees were uprooted, the acid swept away like a leaf in the wind.
Then, without giving Alex time to catch his breath, the creature flapped its wings forcefully. A violent storm immediately formed, engulfing everything in its path. The wind howled, branches flew, the earth trembled.
Carried away by the power of the currents, Alex lost balance. He was thrown into the air before violently hitting the ground, breathless.
Above him, the Stormbeak climbed higher, gaining altitude, majestic and relentless. From the sky, it spread its wings in a frightening amplitude, then unleashed a volley of wind blades.
Each projectile sliced through the air with surgical precision, shredding rocks like paper.
On the ground, Alex rolled sideways, narrowly dodging. The gusts struck the terrain around him, raising dust and debris.
"Is it really you who defeated the panther?" growled Stormbeak. "You're just a walking stroke of luck."
"How do you know that?!" shouted Alex. "Are you spying on us like a pervert?!"
"The whole forest knows. My leader sent me to kill you. I was hungry, I just wanted to eat that old human… And here you appear… What a boon."
"Am I really that famous?" Alex said, half annoyed, half amused.
The eagle answered without hesitation, triggering a burst of monstrous power. In an instant, the forest seemed to bend under its wrath. Entire trees were ripped from the ground, carried away in the storm.
Caught in the gust, Alex was thrown like a straw, his body tearing through the foliage at crazy speed. He rolled for hundreds of meters before violently hitting the ground, breathless.
From the sky, it suddenly folded its wings, then dove at dizzying speed. Its silhouette tore through the clouds like a living arrow, diving on Alex with deadly precision.
Alex barely dodged thanks to Lightning Leap, soaring into the sky.
But he quickly realized the mistake: an eagle… is at home, in the air.
Alex, despite his progress, had only been a bat for a week. The eagle had flown its entire life.
Stormbeak swooped down like a black lightning bolt.
In one wingbeat, it caught him in midair, its talons gleaming with a murderous shine. At his height, the monstrous bird struck its claws with surgical precision.
A searing pain shot through Alex's back. His flesh tore under the impact, blood spraying into the air like a scarlet streak. A howl escaped him, muffled by the brutality of the blow. His body, drained of strength, fell again toward the ground.
It was the first time he'd been clawed like that. A raw, visceral pain. His mind wavered. Consciousness slipped away…
…Almost.
On the edge of fainting, an explosion of willpower detonated in his mind. He reopened his eyes, his gaze burning with a fierce gleam. He stretched out his arms, flapped his wings — and caught himself just in time.
"You're really weak," declared the eagle.
Stormbeak sliced the skies once again, spinning on itself at a terrifying speed. Its massive wings screamed through the air, and in an instant, a colossal tornado was born from its body.
The very atmosphere seemed to contract.
The air was violently sucked in, trees bent, leaves flew away, and daylight twisted in the infernal spiral. Caught in its own vortex, the celestial monster dove, carrying with it the storm it had created.
It was aiming at one target: Alex.
But instead of fleeing, Alex lifted his head, his gaze burning with insane determination.
He was going to attempt the unthinkable.
"Lightning Charge…"
Electricity exploded around him, tearing the air with a deafening crash. His muscles tensed, saturated with pure energy. Every vein, every nerve vibrated to the rhythm of lightning.
Alex spun on himself, again and again, accelerating until he became a thunderous cyclone.
A tornado of raw electricity.
Two storms.
Two tornadoes.
Two unleashed forces ready to collide.
The impact made the earth and sky tremble.
A wall of energy exploded at the intersection of the two attacks, throwing lightning and sharp winds in all directions. The world seemed to stop for a moment, swallowed by the light.
But in the heart of this chaos… Alex held firm.
His Black Stone Shield rose, solid, impassive. It absorbed the fury of the clash, cracking slightly but holding firm, like a bulwark against the end of the world.
Stormbeak, however, did not have that luck.
Struck full force, its body was thrown into the air, shaken by violent spasms.
Electric arcs ran along its silver feathers, burning it from within. It fell heavily, its mind wavering.
Alex didn't waste a second.
His muscles still charged with electricity, he chained without hesitation. In a single fluid movement, he triggered Flaming Spikes and Acid Jet at the same time.
And what followed exceeded all his expectations.
The two skills overlapped in a bestial roar.
Spikes suddenly shot out in front of him, long, twisted, bristling, as if thrown by anger itself.
But this time, they were different.
Wrapped in a greenish fire pulsing like a furious heart, they gave off an acidic vapor, almost alive.
Each tip vibrated, hissed, oozed an unhealthy heat that distorted the air around it.
A mix of flames and poison, as if the fire itself had decided to rot.
Wrapped in a supernatural green fire, they vibrated, burned, and oozed a corrosive substance.
Flaming acid spikes.
The heat was suffocating. The air hissed around him, eaten away by the intensity of the attack.
Without waiting, Alex shouted and launched the deadly volley straight at Stormbeak.
The impact was violent.
The projectiles plunged into the massive body of the bird, each exploding in a spray of acidic flames.
The silver feathers caught fire. The skin began to bubble, eaten away by combustion and corrosion.
Stormbeak let out a piercing scream of pain, his cry almost drowning out the crash of the flames.
He flapped his wings, staggered, but managed to steady himself.
His gaze was mad. His hatred, palpable.
"Filthy… miserable… FLYING RAT!!!"
Alex let out a mocking smile.
"Tch, even that's not enough."
Without losing a second, he continued, ready to strike even harder.
With a swift movement, he launched a volley of flaming spikes, sharp and burning, shooting straight towards his target.
No sooner had the spikes left his arms than a discharge of static lightning erupted instantly, vibrating through the air and electrifying everything in its path.
The combined attack was fast, brutal, relentless.
A strange aura escaped from Stormbeak's body, like a light but sharp mist.
Around him, the air shimmered, distorted as if by invisible heat.
The spikes launched by Alex slowed in their flight.
Even the static lightning he had projected seemed hindered, as if passing through invisible molasses.
Alex frowned. His gaze sharpened.
He didn't understand.
His attacks were losing speed, but he… still felt just as fast.
Then he realized.
This power did not target living beings. It only affected their attacks.
He charged forward, wings beating violently in the air. But as he got closer…
His body grew heavy.
The world around him slowed. His wingbeats felt stuck in the void.
"He… slows down time?!"
Stormbeak was also charging, talons out, eyes full of hatred.
Alex tried to activate Thunder Bond, but even the activation… was slowed.
"Come on… come on… activate!!"
Just before impact, his body vibrated violently.
He teleported.
Stormbeak, carried by his own momentum, missed his target. He panted, breath short, wings drooping with fatigue and frustration.
Alex reappeared behind him. He saw the opening.
Without hesitation, he rushed straight at him.
The eagle, in a last effort, projected blades of wind.
Too slow.
Too predictable.
Alex dodged them effortlessly, slipping between the wind blades with fierce agility.
His wings sliced through the air like obsidian blades, his gaze fixed on his target, relentless.
He closed the distance in an instant.
He made contact.
"Retreat Explosion."
The impact shattered the air. A shockwave shook the sky.
Stormbeak's body was engulfed in a tearing detonation, thrown far into the air like a disjointed puppet.
As the explosion faded, his body fell slowly.
Before losing consciousness, his eyes glazed over, he murmured weakly, in a hoarse breath:
"I – Impossible… A… mere bat…"
He spat blood. His gaze trembled, wavering between rage and disbelief.
"My… leader… will avenge me…"
Then he crashed to the ground.
Alex, surprised, noticed he had taken no damage. He smiled.
"A good skill."
Before exhaustion could overwhelm him completely, Alex dove toward the smoking body of the eagle.
Without a word, he sank his fangs into his prey and drank its still-warm blood, absorbing its strength to the last drop.
[Skill: Blood Acquisition – Activated]
You drink the blood of your target…
Skill acquired: Aerial Howl
Description: You emit a piercing cry that compresses the air, triggering a shockwave.
The blood was… different. Delicious. Not as good as the panther's, but with a hint of grilled chicken. Irresistible.
He continued drinking.
[Skill: Blood Acquisition – Activated]
Skill acquired: Wind Blades
Description: With a flap of wings, you release thin, sharp blades of air.
Skill acquired: Gale Eye
Description: You slow down time in an area around you by accelerating the flow of air.
Skill acquired: Typhoon Dance
Description: By spinning on yourself in a dive, you become the epicenter of a mini-tornado.
Skill acquired: Eagle Eye
Description: Your eyes now perceive long distances with extreme precision. You can follow fast movements, detect enemy weak points, and anticipate their trajectories even in the heat of battle. The faster your target moves, the sharper your perception.
[Level +3!]
Current level: 25
And despite the full acquisition… he kept drinking.
Alex wiped his mouth, a smirk on his lips.
"Honestly… that blood was too good."
He lifted his eyes to the sky, looking thoughtful.
"Tastes like… roast chicken."
Once sated, Alex landed gently on the still-warm carcass of the eagle.
He cast one last look at his prey, then raised his hand, his eyes gleaming with a cold light.
"Store"
[Stormbeak — Level 17] stored
A dark flash engulfed the body, leaving behind only a silent wind.