The mutant jaguar really did seem like the apex predator of this region. Everywhere it passed, other mutant beasts scattered like leaves in the wind. Honestly, it made things easierâless trash to deal with along the way.
Ethan popped a Tier 5 crystal core into his mouth, swallowed it down, and blinked forward again with [Teleportation], keeping up the chase.
Maybe it was the blood loss, or maybe it finally realized it was running out of time, but the jaguar started to panic. Its movements grew erratic, and before long, it had sprinted straight toward a cliffâs edge.
Ethan appeared behind it in a flash, cutting off its retreat.
"Go on," he said with a crooked smile. "Keep running."
The jaguar glanced at him, then back at the cliff behind it. Its expression twisted into something almost humanâresignation, maybe even sorrow.
It couldnât believe itâonce the undisputed king of this territory, now cornered by a single human.
As Ethan stepped closer, the jaguar suddenly tensed, then leaptâstraight off the cliff, aiming for the opposite mountain ridge.
"Holy crap, is this guy serious?" Ethan blinked, stunned.
The gap between the two cliffs had to be at least 300 feet. Even at full strength, there was no way it could make that jump.
"This thingâs gambling on a miracle," Ethan thought. "It knows it canât beat me. Maybe itâs hoping to catch a branch on the way down and survive."
"Nice idea," he muttered, eyes narrowing. "Too bad you ran into me."
But then his smirk froze.
His eyes widened.
"What the hell?!"
The jaguar was gone.
One second it was mid-air, leaping across the ravineâand the next, it had vanished.
Ethan rubbed his eyes, then activated [True Sight], scanning the air where it had been.
Still nothing.
The jaguar had disappeared right in front of him.
He rushed to the cliffâs edge, eyes darting across the drop, [True Sight] sweeping the area.
Nothing.
"Am I losing it? Or did that thing just phase out of existence?" Ethan muttered, stunned. "No... if it had a spatial ability, it wouldâve used it way earlier. And I wouldâve seen it."
"Then maybe... itâs not the jaguar. Maybe itâs this place."
He focused, eyes narrowing as he scanned the air where the jaguar had vanished.
Thereâabout thirty feet out from the cliffâs edgeâsomething was off.
The space looked... warped. Like a ripple in the air, barely visible even with [True Sight].
He turned it off. The distortion vanished.
Turned it back on. There it was againâsubtle, but definitely there.
"What the hell is that?"
He picked up a rock and tossed it toward the warped space.
The moment it touched the distortion, it vanishedâlike it had been swallowed whole.
"...!!!"
"Holy shit," Ethan breathed. "Is that... a dimensional rift?"
It sure looked like one.
But this kind of thing was way beyond anything theyâd seen so far. He couldnât be sure.
Just then, footsteps pounded up behind him. The rest of the squad had finally caught up.
"Hey, Captainâwhereâs the jaguar?" someone asked, glancing around.
"Gone," Ethan said, throwing up his hands.
"Gone?" The group looked around, confused.
"Did it fall?" Chris asked.
"Nope. It straight-up vanished. Right in front of me," Ethan said, clearly annoyed.
He quickly explained what had just happened.
"Holy shit!" Big Mikeâs eyes lit up. "Captain, thatâs gotta be a dimensional rift! We should go inâwhat if itâs full of loot?"
Chris rolled his eyes. "You trying to die? You donât even know whatâs in there and youâre ready to dive in?"
Henry turned to Ethan. "Your [True Sight] canât see through it?"
"Nope," Ethan said, shaking his head. "Whateverâs in there, itâs not part of this space. All I can see is that the areaâs warped."
Henry nodded slowly. "Still... Iâm with Big Mike on this one. Itâs weird, yeah, but weirdâs kind of the new normal these days."
Ethan gave a small nod. "Yeah. Iâm thinking the same."
Big Mike stepped closer, eyes gleaming. "So... we going in?"
He wasnât the only one itching to explore. The others were staring at the rift with barely contained curiosity.
Fear of the unknown was naturalâbut curiosity?
That was stronger.
"Letâs not," Sean said, shaking his head. "Curiosity killed the cat, remember? We donât know anything about whatâs in there. If we just charge in, we could get wiped out."
"Meow!" Pumpkin let out a sharp cry at Sean, like she was saying, "Hey! Talk all you want, but leave me out of it!"
Ethan glanced at Pumpkinâand suddenly, his eyes lit up.
"Iâve got an idea."
Everyone turned to him. "What kind of idea?"
"We find an animal," Ethan said. "Skinny Pete, you take control of it. Then we toss it into the rift and command it to come back out after ten minutes."
"If it comes back, that means itâs at least survivable in there for ten minutes. Then we can think about going in. If it doesnât... we leave it alone."
Ethan was just as curious about the dimensional rift as anyone else. Of course he wanted to check it out.
But going in blind? That was a great way to die without even knowing how.
The others lit up at the suggestion.
"Ha! Thatâs why youâre the boss."
"Yeah, that could work."
"Alright, Iâll go catch a rabbit or something," Skinny Pete said.
"Iâm coming with you," Big Mike added, already tugging him downhill with a grin.
As the two of them disappeared down the slope, Chris turned to Ethan. "Hey, what if that mutant jaguarâs still in there? We toss in a rabbit and it just gets eaten."
"...Right. Forgot about that guy," Ethan muttered. "Still, itâs probably fine. That thing was bleeding out hard. Even if itâs alive in there, itâs likely passed out by now."
"Fair."
It didnât take long before Big Mike and Skinny Pete came jogging back up the trail, each holding a fat, squirming rabbit.
Skinny Pete, a Tier 7, had no trouble locking down a Tier 4 mutant rabbit. Within minutes, he had one fully under control.
"Skinny Pete," Ethan asked, "if the rabbit dies in there, will you know?"
"Yeah," Pete nodded. "Every time I control a mutant beast, I can sense it in my head. I just give it commands mentally. If it dies, Iâll feel it immediately."
"Perfect. Letâs do it."
"Alright." Skinny Pete picked up the rabbit and walked toward the cliffâs edge.
The rabbit, blissfully unaware of its fate, kept nuzzling against Peteâs chest, rubbing its head on him like a pet.
Pete hesitated for a second, visibly torn.
Man, this thing would taste amazing in a stew.
But he shook off the thought, sighed, and tossed the rabbit toward the spot Ethan had pointed out.
Everyone watched.
The rabbit soared through the airâand halfway across, it vanished.