A Cold-Blooded POV

Munch. Munch. Munch.

Silence.

Silence engulfed the area. The only thing that could be heard was the sounds of flesh being ripped and torn, bones being crunched on like snacks, and the periodic spurts of blood landing on the floor. With each crunch of bone and each gurgle of blood, Ethoss would glance up at the hyenas around him, seemingly to tease or provoke them.

He was eating their kin; what were they going to do about it?

Nothing. The monsters around him could only watch Ethoss with caution. The smaller hyenas repeatedly peeked at their leader as if to ask "Is it okay to run away yet".

However, the leader seemed to be in hesitation. It was hungry, very hungry - they all were. It had been weeks of eating nothing but scraps. The only time it ever gotten a proper chance to eat a fulfilling meal was when one of its kin died during a hunt.

This allowed them to feast on its corpse, and it as the leader had the authority to eat as much as it wanted first, before the others got a chance to eat.

It was in distraught - they had finally found a weakened and injured monster, one that had lost some of its limbs!

The leader hyena could vividly remember the taste of flesh it had tasted from this giant lizard. Just thinking about it, made its mouth salivate.

However, the reptile was much stronger than it anticipated. It's speed and strength seemed unaffected by its injuries. Now, it had killed one of its kin - and was feasting on their kin right in front of them!

Ethoss paused his eating, looking up at the leader of this group of hyenas.

'It still hasn't attacked' Ethoss thought. 'Looks like this isn't making it angry'.

In fact, as Ethoss looked closer, the leader of the pack seemed to show more greed than before, and even the more inferior hyenas looked at his food with envy and greed - though, they seemed fine with fleeing just as much.

Ethoss hissed.

These creatures were shameless. He definitely wasn't letting this group of monsters live at all. Though, he never intended to in the first place. One could not step on a tiger's tail, waking it from its sleep, then simply think it would get mercy.

Not to mention, even though he had just set it up, these vexatious creatures had dared to enter his territory, and even looked down on him - looking at him as prey.

Ethoss flicked his tongue, then with a burst of speed he charged at another of the weaker/smaller hyenas - specifically the hyena that was already hurt from his breath attack earlier. It's black burned fur made it stick out like a sore thumb, one could even see the tissue of the burned area, raised and indented from the third-degree burns that destroyed the nerves on that part of its skin, causing numbness.

It hadn't even registered Ethoss's movements until he was almost three feet away from it. The hyena instinctively let out it's nervous cackles.

"HE HE HE!"

Lethal Venomous Bite!

Ethoss bit down on the smaller monster. The hyena leader had been playing the waiting game, hoping to wait until a significant moment to unleash its attack at the right moment.

However, it had now realized that waiting was having the opposite effect in this fight. More of its kin was being killed the more it waited - and soon it would be alone, which meant that it would never get the chance to strike unnoticed, and it would have to face such a vicious reptile alone.

Thinking this, the leader rushed toward Ethoss, signaling for the other smaller hyena to help it with its attack. It was desperate, It was starving – more importantly anything, it was terrified.

It was terrified that if it didn't strike now when the giant lizard was preoccupied, it would inevitably die to this reptile.

Ethoss suddenly turned on his heels, knowing full well what was coming. With his strong maw, he twisted his neck and sling the hyena he had in his grasp directly at the other smaller hyena. This sent it flying a few meters away.

However, he didn't expect the leader to attack just yet. The leader hyena's mouth glowed a black hue, and dark mist swirled from its mouth.

Bite!

The hyena bit Ethoss on the neck, ripping a chunk of meat with scales adorned upon it off. Ethoss hissed in pain, yet he didn't allow it to stop him. Ethoss didn't have time to check his HP, however, he could feel an additional sense of pain that seemed to extend the duration of existing pain he was already dealing with.

This unknown source also seemed to had revived previous wounds that didn't bother Ethoss anymore. The pain of his missing leg and tail, and even some of his missing toes came in like a tsunami.

Hisss!

Ethoss raised his claw and struck at the leader hyena with as much strength as he could muster.

[Pernicious Claw Swipe has reached level 2]

A chunk of meat and fur was decapitated from the hyena's body. Blood spurted onto Ethoss face - some of it entering his mouth.

The two of them - Ethoss and the hyena leader had a trade of a bite for a slash. Just how the hyena took a chunk of his flesh with its jaws, Ethoss snatched a chunk of its flesh from its stomach.

However, unlike the hyena, Ethoss had thick skin and even thicker scales - so the hyena's attack was less lethal than Ethoss's.

Ethoss attack made some of the hyena's rib bones show slightly. The hyena leader gave out a snarl of agony, and tried to withdraw itself to regain its bargains. However, Ethoss wouldn't let it go.

Ethoss followed through with the attack, hissing belligerently. As the leader pulled back, Ethoss continued to attack.

Ethoss opened his cavernous mouth, snapping it onto the hyena's long and strong neck. Seconds later, Ethoss swung his body slamming the hyena onto the floor aggressively.

"He He He He!"

Behind Ethoss, the other two injured hyenas rushed him, one jumping on his large back, biting into the open neck wound he got from their leader, and the other snapping onto one of his back legs.

This caused Ethoss to lose balance and fall. The sharp pain Ethoss was feeling seemed everlasting. Enduring the pain, Ethoss clenched his jaw, his claws grip tightened, digging into the ground.

Ethoss swiftly scrambled backward and shook his body vigorously, trying to knock off the pesky hyenas while keeping its head above water.

The hyena on his back was shaken off after a few attempts, landing on the floor next to him, but the other hung desperately onto his leg with its jaws.

Ethoss turnt his body, attempting to reach his head closer to his back legs. In the process, he stepped on the leg of the hyena he had shaken off of his back.

A low snap was heard. Then the snarls and cries of the hyena accompanied. Ethoss didn't pay any mind to it however.

Finally reaching the range of the hyena holding his leg, Ethoss grabbed the closest part of the body he could reach on the hyena. This resulted in Ethoss chomping onto the front leg. Ethoss pulled as hard as he could.

This gave the hyena two choices: it either had to let go of Ethoss's leg, or it would have its own leg snatched right off from its body trying to hold on to Ethoss's leg. This resulted in the hyena loosening its grip on Ethoss leg, as it released cries of pain.

Ethoss pulled the hyena underneath him and used his many legs to hold it down. While this was taking place, the hyena continuously cackled nervously.

"He He He!"

'This irritating sound!' Ethoss complained internally.

Ethoss used two of his many claws to grab the hyena's snout and open it. It continued to struggle however, it's strength was no match for Ethoss's. He then pulled them opposite of each other with a tremendous force. Growing even more impatient, Ethoss began to condense deep flames in his throat.

This made his neck and chest areas highlight and glow orange and red. Five seconds later, Ethoss opened his maw releasing a beam of scorching flames directly into the hyena's mouth - burning its insides. The hyena tried to let out a loud scream, however, the flames devoured its vocal and respiratory system, burning even its organs and intestines.

[You have defeated level 4 Iuvenis Dira Hyeana]

[You have gained XP]

[You have achieved level 8, One skill point awarded]

When the flame dissipated, Ethoss was left with nothing but charred remnants of a once living creature. Some of the dead monster's body parts and organs had been disintegrated into nothingness due to the intense flames.

Ethoss looked around at the remaining monsters, his eyes had a wild glint in them. Even with all the pain he was experiencing, even with how much blood was dripping from his body—

Ethoss was enjoying himself!