MY F-GRADE BEAST IS THE STRONGEST

The Shadowfang Leopard

The moment the voice echoed in Airis's mind, he froze.

He searched his surroundings, trying to locate the speaker, but there was no one nearby.

Then his gaze fell on his spirit beast in front of him.

Before he could make sense of what had happened, the Beast suddenly bolted.

"What the..?!"

Airis watched it flee as though it had seen a ghost. He quickly came forward, grabbed his spirit beast as he ran in the opposite direction, repeatedly glancing over his shoulder to make sure the Abyss-Touched Beast wasn't following them.

After nearly twenty minutes of running, he spotted a cave and rushed inside.

The darkness swallowed him almost immediately. He slowed down, bent over, and struggled to catch his breath.

"Can you stop doing things like that?" he snapped at his spirit beast on his shoulder. "Do you want us both to die?"

The Shadow Beast's violet eyes had returned to normal. It merely sat there, looking as harmless as ever.

Airis stared at it before shaking his head.

"Great. Now I'm arguing with a creature that can't even talk."

He had no time to dwell on the strange voice. The wilderness was filled with monsters, and this cave was the only shelter he had found so far.

He cautiously moved deeper inside.

Bones littered the ground, some belonging to beasts and others to humans. Deep claw marks scarred the walls, suggesting that whatever had happened here had been anything but peaceful.

Airis swallowed nervously.

Abyssal Gates continued to release the corrupting energy that transformed ordinary beasts into monsters, forcing humanity to survive behind protective barriers.

And now, he had been abandoned beyond those protections with nothing but an F-Grade Spirit Beast.

His fists tightened at the thought of his father.

Ethan Kal had not even given him a chance to prove himself. The moment the awakening crystal classified his Spirit Beast as F-Grade, his father had treated him like a disgrace.

Airis clenched his jaw.

He couldn't change what had happened, but he could refuse to die here.

To survive, he needed to understand his Spirit Beast's abilities and learn how to use his own mana.

He found a relatively clean section of the cave and sat cross-legged. Following the instructions he had once read in his family's library, he regulated his breathing and focused on the bond connecting him to his contracted beast.

A faint trace of mana flowed from his chest.

The moment it reached the Shadow Beast, something rippled through his consciousness.

Airis frowned.

The sensation was unlike anything he had experienced before. It felt as though an invisible connection had suddenly become clearer.

Then darkness began spreading from the creature on his shoulder.

It was no ordinary shadow. The darkness was unnaturally pure, swallowing the faint light inside the cave and spreading across the stone walls.

The ground trembled.

Yet Airis remained unaware, his eyes closed as he struggled to understand the strange sensation.

Moments later, he opened his eyes, sweat trickling down his temples.

A faint trace of dark mana curled around his fingers.

He stared at it in surprise.

"Darkness affinity, huh...?"

He had no way to tell whether the mana belonged to him or whether he had merely sensed his Spirit Beast's affinity through their bond.

Before he could investigate further, a roar thundered through the cave.

Airis sprang to his feet and glanced around, only to discover that his Shadow Beast was no longer on his shoulder.

"Are you fucking kidding me…?"

The tiny creature was already heading toward the deeper passage.

Airis cursed under his breath and hurried after it. He couldn't afford to lose the only companion he had, troublesome as it was.

But the moment he entered the next chamber, he stopped dead.

A massive leopard stood in the darkness.

Its black-spotted hide was streaked with blood, and deep wounds covered its body. Yet its yellow eyes remained sharp and vicious, while its powerful claws scraped against the stone floor.

Airis recognized the beast from an illustration in his family's archives.

"Shadowfang Leopard..."

His throat tightened.

Shadowfang Leopards were known for their speed and lethal claws. According to the records, this one appeared to be at Peak E-Rank threat.

It was far more powerful than the Low E-Rank threat Abyss-Touched Beast he had encountered earlier.

Even injured, it was more than capable of killing him.

Airis slowly turned toward his Spirit Beast.

The tiny creature stood directly in front of the leopard, staring at it with its violet eyes.

The leopard, however, seemed far more interested in Airis.

'Why is it looking at me? You're the one standing in front of it!'

Airis swallowed nervously.

"Hey, buddy. Do you really hate me this much?"

Airis felt like crying. He couldn't even understand his feelings right now, but there wasn't time to think about that.

The Shadow Beast tilted its head toward Airis as the leopard growled.

Airis's heart nearly stopped as he tried to think of a way out.

Meanwhile, the leopard lowered its body, its hind legs tensing as it prepared to pounce.

"Wait! We can talk about…" Airis said anxiously, almost pissing his pants.

Whoosh!

The leopard lunged forward as Airis threw himself sideways, but its speed was terrifying.

BAM!

A powerful blow slammed into his chest, hurling him against the cave wall.

Excruciating pain spread through his body. He felt as though his ribs had broken, and even drawing breath became a struggle.

He slid to the ground, coughing violently as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. Every attempt to draw breath sent another wave of pain through his chest.

The leopard slowly turned toward him.

Airis stared at the approaching monster, his face draining of color.

"Do something, buddy, or else…"

He didn't finish his statement before the Shadow Beast finally moved.

Its violet eyes brightened, and an oppressive darkness poured from its tiny body.

The temperature inside the chamber dropped.

For a brief moment, the Shadowfang Leopard stopped advancing. Its claws scraped against the ground, and its body trembled beneath the pressure.

Airis's eyes lit up.

'That's strange, but continue.'

He struggled to stand, then coughed up a mouthful of blood.

The Shadow Beast took another step forward.

The pressure intensified.

Then the leopard roared.

A powerful surge of mana erupted from its body, shaking the chamber. The darkness around the tiny creature trembled before shattering like glass.

The Shadow Beast was thrown backward, tumbling across the stone floor.

Airis's hope vanished as he struggled to move toward the Shadow Beast.

He lowered his head to glance at the Shadow Beast and spoke in a mocking tone. "Are you feeling the pain?!"

The Shadow Beast didn't even bother with him as a faint anger began to seep through its violet eyes.

The leopard lowered its body and moved slowly toward them, like a predator stalking its prey.

It sprang toward them, opening its mouth for the kill.

At that moment, the Shadow Beast raised its head. Its violet eyes flashed.

A razor-thin blade of darkness shot through the chamber.

SLASH!

The blade struck the leopard's wounded side, tearing open an existing injury.

Blood sprayed across the stone floor.

The leopard roared in pain and twisted in midair, its attack narrowly missing Airis before it crashed to the ground.

Airis stared at the wound.

The attack hadn't been powerful enough to defeat the leopard, but it had struck precisely where the beast was already injured.

'It targeted the wound!'

The Shadow Beast swayed, its tiny body trembling from the effort.

Airis suddenly lifted the Shadow Beast and turned toward the opposite passage, dragging his injured body along as he retreated.

This wasn't the time to play the hero. Surviving was the priority, especially now that the leopard was roaring in pain.

But strangely enough, the direction Airis was going wasn't the exit but deep inside the cave!